The death of Mo Rhodes, her best friend's mother, teaches Kate the danger of solely living for the day. Kate has truly grown and matured and her growth is reflected by her ability to truly open herself up and enjoy life. Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach expertly recounts the story of Kate Burns transition from adolescence to maturity. Kate's struggle to find her place in her constantly changing surroundings brings forth important issues that are present in all of our lives. Kate's attempt to deal with change is something we have all had to deal with in sometime in our life.
Nothing is permanent, everything changes.
When Kate comes to grips with the constancy of change and learns to adjust to it she makes a large step towards maturity. Maycomb, a classic southern town full of gossip, tradition and burdened with a legacy of racism, seems a strange place to stage a drama which encourages equal treatment and non prejudice. However, the narrator's fresh outlook on the sleepy town furnishes the reader with a multitude of viewpoints on civil rights. The traditional Southern racism of Maycomb is looked at through the eyes of our young narrator, Scout Finch. These questions are crucial in Scout's search for her own identity.