While the novel is definitely narrated by Scout--both through the eyes of her youth as well as from a future adult perspective--the novel is written by Harper Lee, who most literary critics believe based the character of Scout on herself. Although Scout may have eventually become a writer, just as the young, tomboy Lee became, there is no mention in the narrative that the story has eventually evolved into a novel. For example, it is not quite the same as in the teen novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, where the narrator, Ponyboy Curtis, eventually puts his story on paper as an assignment for his English teacher. The stories within TKAM are merely the reminiscences of Scout, told almost as if she is retelling the tales to her children sometime in the future.