Overview
He got out his worldly wealth and examined it — bits of toys, marble, and trash; enough to buy an exchange of work maybe, but not enough to buy as much as half an hour of pure freedom".One of those most irrepressible and exuberant characters in the history of literature, Tom Sawyer explodes onto the page in a whirl of bad behavior and incredible adventures. Whether he is heaving clods of earth at his brother, faking a gangrenous toe, or trying to convince the world that he is dead, Tom's infectious energy and good-humor shine through.
The Adventures of Tom sawyer is Mark Twain's joyful and nostalgic recollection of tall tales from his own boyhood by the Mississippi some "thirty or forty years ago". It was an instant success on its first publication in 1876, and has continued to delight children of all ages ever since.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Missouri in 1835, the son of a lawyer. Early in his childhood, the family moved to Hannibal, Missouri — a town which would provide the inspiration for St. Petersburg in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. After a period spent as a traveling printer, Clemens became a river pilot on the Mississippi; a time he would look back upon as his happiest. When he turned to writing in his thirties, he adopted the pseudonym Mark Twain ("Mark Twain" is the cry of a Mississippi boatman taking dept measurements, and means "two fathoms"), and a number of highly successful publications followed, including The Prince and the Pauper (1882), Huckleberry Finn (1884) and A Connecticut Yankee (1889). His later life, however, was marked by personal tragedy and sadness, as well as financial difficulty. In 1894 several businesses in which he had invested failed, and he was declared bankrupt. Over the next fifteen years — during which he managed to regain some measure of financial independence — he saw the death of two of his beloved daughters, and his wife. Increasingly bitter and depressed, Twain died in 1910, aged seventy-five.
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The adventures and pranks of a mischievous boy growing up in a Mississippi River town in the early nineteenth century.
Synopsis
Mark Twain's classic novel of a mischievous boy's pranks and escapades in a nineteenth-century river town---whitewashing a fence, seeking buried treasure, trying to impress the adored Becky Thatcher, and more.
Caitlyn Payne - Children's Literature
What does a young boy do when he witnesses a murder but is terrified the murderer will come after him and kill him if he tells anyone what he saw? This terrible quandary is just one of the trials young Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn face after they see a man killed. On top of this worry about being attacked by the murderer, Tom has to deal with a meddlesome aunt, an ornery teacher, and a pretty girl who does not respond to his schoolboy affection. Quite an adventure for a boy who started his summer trying to get out of having to whitewash a picket fence! Fans of adventure stories, mystery buffs, or readers who enjoyed getting into scrapes with Tom years ago will enjoy this tale of a mischievous boy and his assorted pranks, trials, and intrigues. The book is funny, interesting, and thought provoking. Readers may be put off by archaic language and slang, but once you get beyond the printed words, Tom Sawyer is a wonderful book about a loveable boy who could not stay out of trouble. Part of the "Adventure Classics" series. 2005 (orig. 1876), HarperCollins, Ages 8 to 12.
Editorials
Children's Literature
What does a young boy do when he witnesses a murder but is terrified the murderer will come after him and kill him if he tells anyone what he saw? This terrible quandary is just one of the trials young Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn face after they see a man killed. On top of this worry about being attacked by the murderer, Tom has to deal with a meddlesome aunt, an ornery teacher, and a pretty girl who does not respond to his schoolboy affection. Quite an adventure for a boy who started his summer trying to get out of having to whitewash a picket fence! Fans of adventure stories, mystery buffs, or readers who enjoyed getting into scrapes with Tom years ago will enjoy this tale of a mischievous boy and his assorted pranks, trials, and intrigues. The book is funny, interesting, and thought provoking. Readers may be put off by archaic language and slang, but once you get beyond the printed words, Tom Sawyer is a wonderful book about a loveable boy who could not stay out of trouble. Part of the "Adventure Classics" series. 2005 (orig. 1876), HarperCollins, Ages 8 to 12.—Caitlyn Payne