The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Written by Mark Twain

Narrated by Paul Newman

Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work.

Originally published in 1876, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the classic tale of a carefree and courageous boy’s coming-of-age in a rural Mississippi River town. Tom and his best friend, Huckleberry Finn, are two of literature’s most enduring and treasured creations.

Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research.

Read with confidence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jun 1, 2000
• ISBN: 9780743568166

Mark Twain

The Mark Twain Project, composed of seven editors, is a major editorial and publishing program of The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

[boundtogetherforgood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this in school, probably in 7th grade, because it was assigned. I was not a reader at the time and so really didn't enjoy it very much. I wanted to reread it as an adult. I believe I enjoyed it more this time although I do find Twain wordy, but authors of that time period were. I am not sure the subject of this story is one that would have ever gotten me excited. I even set the book down for many months with only 60 pages to the end. I picked it up and finished it in two quick sittings. I don't think the story is suddenly more interesting to me. I do think I was eager to put the book in my finished pile. I also have to believe that I am better now at reading classics since I have read many more the last few years.

[kendrarenee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mark Twain's style doesn't disappoint. He writes in such a way that I forget he's even there, between the reader and the story. The dialogue, I think, is the best part; Twain does it so well it's like hearing the characters themselves speak straight out from the pages. Unfortunately, I read this at age 24 and so, by that point, knew the story so well through other venues (Wishbone, tv specials, movies, etc.) that nothing could at all surprise me. But still, I enjoyed it--especially the religious waywardness of its central characters. Just don't know what to make of the talk of, and attitude towards, blacks. Is Twain unconsciously or satirically reflecting the mindset of those times?

[garrison0550 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Come on, who doesn't love old Tom Sawyer?!

[hamburgerclan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Y'know, when reviewing a classic like this one, I feel a bit like I should be writing a more substantial essay. You know, something like how Tom fulfills the mythological role of the "Trickster" archetype, or analyzing the interpersonal dynamics between Aunt Polly and her adopted children, or something like that. Of course, I don't have that kind of time, not when I seem to be finishing another For Better or For Worse collection every few days or so and have next month's book club reads ahead of me. So I'll simply say that Tom Sawyer is a boy growing up in antebellum Missouri and his adventures are the type one might expect a young boy of that time to have, save that Tom really is a trickster and will outsmart other folks, more often than not. But that's not a bad thing. I tended to root for Tom, rather than start building up a jealous resentment of him. Mr. Twain painted such a human character that I was able to relate to Tom even though I would never have been able to figure out how to get out of whitewashing the fence or get Becky Thatcher to notice me. It's great stuff.--J.

[rachelle_ockert-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Great Starter

Just getting back to reading in earnest, figured I'd start with some classics. Still twinge at the "n" word, but it's a cultural sign of those times. Imagination and exploration. Kids used to have it. Kids used to could explore.

[laugal-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I re-read this every few years,this a an American classic.A must read for everyone.
I do re-read it every few summers, a classic.

[birdbrian-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

To borrow a phrase from Ceridwen, I'd like to punch this book in the nose. Don't get me wrong; Mark Twain's novel is engagingly written and probably a timeless classic for its rich depictions of rural life in the antebellum South; it's just that the "lovable rascal" schtick doesn't work for me. It isn't really the book I have an issue with; it's Tom Sawyer himself I'd like to punch. He's been an icon of carefree boyhood antics for nealy 150 years, and as such he's been a stone in my shoe for as long as I've known him. My mother's dogeared copy from her own childhood has been floating around our household for decades, both predating my own appearance, and remaining after I departed for college. When somebody keeps a book around that long, and it's as lovingly worn as Mom's Tom Sawyer you just know it made an impression at some point. As my mother's only son, I can assure you that to some significant degree, Tom imprinted himself in her imagination as a sort of rough guideline of what a growing boy should be: a spirited imp who passes lazy summers fishin' with his buddies, getting into rough-and-tumble adventures in the great outdoors, swimmin' at the swimmin' hole, and layin' on the hillside chewin' a long stem of grass while lookin' at clouds, &c. That's fine, if that's what you're into. The problem was, that's not what I was into. Twelve year old Brian of 1980 was absolutely nothing like twelve year old Tom Sawyer of 1876. Brian didn't give a fuck about fishing or getting into brawls with the neighborhood boys (just for spirited fun of it) or any of that other damn stuff. If left to my own devices, I would have spent my summers reading in my room, building models, listening to music on my cool cassette player and probably watching more tv than I should have. Introversion isn't a crime, you know... but Tom made his unwelcome influence known more times than I can recall, when I'd be contentedly engaged in one of the above sedentary activities, and Mom would come by and say something like "What are you doing in here on such a beautiful day? You should go outside and play!"To which I responded (although not usually aloud) "Play? What do you think I'm doing here?" But my play didn't really count as "play" in Mom's book. It was Tom's play I was supposed to be engaging in. I had a general sense that "go out and play" probably involved some sort of team sports, which I was not much a fan of, or some vague kind of frolicking in the sunshine, the specifics of which eluded me. Once I went outside though, I never knew exactly what I was supposed to do. More often than not, when shoo'd out of the house, I'd just bring my book with me, and read in the yard. Occasionally Mom would get more aggressive in her efforts and send me away on my bicycle, not to return for a specified time interval. Mostly I'd ride around then, or occasionally drop in on friends to play board games, or some other decidedly non-Sawyeresque activity. Those were the days I knew Tom was conspiring with Mom, whispering like a ghost in her ear to disrupt my favorite pasttimes, and replace them with boyhood romps more alligned with the ideals propegated by Mark Twain and Walt Disney (another of my childhood enemies).My dislike for Tom only grew when I got around to reading his book. I could hardly believe it! Sneaking out of the house late at night? Lying? Not doing chores? Crawling around in prohibited caves? Stealing? Getting into fights?? What the hell?!?!? This is all stuff I would have gotten in trouble for, had I actually done it! Tom Sawyer was like an infuriating sibling who never got held to account; a Bart Simpson, if Bart Simpson wasn't remotely funny. And this was the boy I was supposed to be like?? It was a bitter mixed message; a situation where you just couldn't win. When I look back on the book now, I only recall a few specifics. One of them is the famous fence painting scene. Tom tricks his friends into helping him paint a fence by convincing them how much fun it is. He stands there, whistling and painting away, telling his buddies what a great time he's having, until pretty soon they are begging to be allowed to participate. He refuses at first- wanting to keep the "fun" for himself, but eventually reluctantly remits. I think he even charges them money for the pleasure. What a manipulative bastard. If he were alive today, he'd probably be running a sweatshop somewhere, inducing seven year olds to make Nike sneakers for 30 cents an hour (without bathroom breaks). Or maybe he'd be working as a Director for the Federal Reserve. I can picture him in a press conference, the skinny blonde freckled kid of yesteryear now grown into a doughy, pale late middle aged fat man with bloodshot eyes, jowls, excessive nose and ear hair, and male pattern baldness. He'd stand there with his script, sweating under the camera lights in his ill-fitting suit, and tell the American public how lucky we all are that the Fed is going to "save" us from economic collapse with quantitative easing and a big "liquidity" injection of worthless paper money which will destroy the value of our hard-earned savings. Then he and his Goldman Sachs buddies would duck into a back room to do some lines of blow with Becky Thatcher, laughing all the while at what a bunch of suckers we all are.Fuck you, Tom Sawyer.

[villy83 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis:Tom Sawyer is a naughty boy from St. Petersburg (fictional), Missouri, who is always engaged in troublesome adventures with his friends, specially with Huckleberry Finn, causing her Aunt Polly to go mad. He lazily attends school and never misses a chance to be envied by his schoolmates for his heroic mischiefs. Despite his misbehavior, he's a good-hearted young man.Personal Opinion:What a read! I was a great fan of the animated series when I was a child (and nowadays, of course) but had never read the book. I was really looking forward to do it, and when the moment came I was trully moved by the story, its characters and everything. That's what I call a masterpiece!The book is structured in chapters that can be seen as almost independent stories. Every chapter deals with different adventures based on situations lived by some of the author's schoolmates. Actually, Mark Twain based the boys on this novel on some of them, sometimes merging two or three boys into one.Tom, as a character, brings you back to the days when all of us were dreaming all day long about doing fantastic things; those times when petty troubles seemed to turn your life into something miserable. That's a feeling commonly reflected during the novel, and it's as genuine as a three dollar bill.In addition, the dialogs are boyish (as it must be) and doesn't fail to present the reader with the social reality of those days (back in the 19th Century). Slavery is not a main point in this novel, but it's easy to grasp its social consideration.Being a classic as it is, there's not a lot to say about Tom Sawyer that hasn't yet been said. I'd like to quote the author, though, who on the preface points that: "Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in." Mission more than accomplished Mr. Twain. Henceforth:

[bjk1903_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book a lot and I think it explains the life of a boy called Tom Sawyer very well.

[jms001 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great classic tale filled with childhood memories and the innocence of naivety. Not that long of a read, it's a great tale for numerous mini-adventures to take on throughout the course of the novel. And what could make any child happier than actually finding that long sought-after buried treasure.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tom Sawyer just can't seem to stay out of trouble, much to the chagrin of his Aunt Polly and other adults in his life. Among other things, he skips school, tricks his friends into doing his chores, and falls in love with the new girl. Though he's always up to something, you can't help but like this kid.It's always a little strange to reread books that I first encountered as a child, and having my past and present reactions running through my mind. I remember reading Tom Sawyer for the first time when I was in elementary school, and really enjoying the chapter about whitewashing the fence. I was so proud of myself that I figured out how devious Tom was, even when the narrator didn't really tell me that he was tricking everyone. I still enjoyed it as an adult, but my reactions were different in a few ways. I had remembered it as more of a cohesive story, but it's really quite episodic. The characterization of "Injun Joe" didn't faze me as a child, but reading it now I was struck by the pervasive racism. A fun story, especially when Tom and Huck are up to shenanigans and discussing superstitions.

[lyzadanger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like Twain as quote-worthy curmudgeon. I like his cynical way of writing. But, alas, I don't really like Tom Sawyer.It's a melodrama that, while purporting to narrate Tom's story and take Tom's side, both condescends to its protagonist and never really gives a sense of motivation. Rascally, sure, mischievous, but why? We see hints of Tom's conscience from time to time, but the grief he puts his elders through seems nothing short of sociopathic at times.Intriguingly, this story reads like a play. Give this some thought as you read the book. Scenes are clear-cut, action relatively confined in space, and entrances and exits highlighted (over fences, into caves, etc.). What is appealing to me is the treatment of absolutely non-children's issues in the novel. Widow Douglas is absolutely threatened with rape. Murder happens. Racism. The children themselves act much more grown up than the preadolescents I know today--able to cook for themselves, boat, sleep in the open, drink and smoke--enough that I spent a lot of the time wondering just how old Tom was supposed to be. At times he seemed seven, at times fifteen. This early wending into adulthood reminds that this bucolic drama is not entirely innocent: it deals with heavy topics; it takes place in a wilder time. It's an important document of Americana, just don't ask me to enjoy it too much.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tom Sawyer, orphaned and living with his Aunt Polly, befriends Huck Finn, the son of the town drunk. They, along with some of their friends, share in youthful adventures of a time and place when it was safe to romp around without adult supervision nearby. 19th century Missouri was also a time and place where racism still existed. Some will object to the terminology being used to refer to those of other ethnicities, but it can provide a good springboard for discussion if used with students about why those terms are no longer socially acceptable and about how social norms evolve. The story line with Becky Thatcher is also an interesting one that should generate discussion among readers. This was a re-read for me. It's a classic tale that while dated in some respects will probably continue to be enjoyed for some time to come.

[rolandarad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a part of growing up and needs to be read earlier rather than later.

[kate_schulte078 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This would be good to use when talking about the mid 1880s and life on the Mississippi. I think students will like this book because of how Tom reacts to situations.

[lit_chick_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

2008, Blackstone Audiobooks, Read by Grover GardnerBook Description: from BookDepository.comWho could forget the pranks, the adventures, the sheer fun of Tom Sawyer? From Tom's sly trickery with the whitewashed fence to his and Becky Thatcher's calamities in Bat Cave, the enjoyment never ends. Just what did boys do in a small town during the mid-1800s, a time when there were no televisions, no arcades, and no videos? They whitewashed fences, floated down rivers, traded marbles, formed secret societies, smoked pipes, and, on occasion, managed to attend their own funerals. Yes, they may have been a bit mischievous, but as Aunt Polly said of Tom when she believed him to be dead, "He was the best-hearted boy that ever was." Aunt Polly's sentiments reveal one of Mark Twain's cardinal philosophies: In this deceitful and infirm world, innocence can be found only in the heart of a boy. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a humorous and nostalgic book depicting the carefree days of boyhood in a small Midwestern town. The characters are based on Twain's schoolmates and the town, Hannibal, Missouri, is where Twain grew up.My Review: Grover Gardner does a fabulous job of narration, and I enjoyed revisiting Tom?s adventures ? I don?t think Twain grows old, and I expect this would ?blamed pleased him.? My favourite part of the book is the last third: the ordeal in the cave. Endearing snapshots include the whitewashed fence, Tom and Becky eating their ?wedding cake? in the case to ward off starvation, and Huck?s absolute hostility towards shoes and all things ?reg?lar?:?It ain't for me; I ain't used to it. The widder's good to me, and friendly; but I can't stand them ways. She makes me get up just at the same time every morning; she makes me wash, they comb me all to thunder; she won't let me sleep in the woodshed; I got to wear them blamed clothes that just smothers me, Tom; they don't seem to any air git through 'em, somehow; and they're so rotten nice that I can't set down, nor lay down, nor roll around anywher's ? I can't chaw. I got to wear shoes all Sunday. The widder eats by a bell; she goes to bed by a bell; she gits up by a bell?everything's so awful reg'lar a body can't stand it.? (Ch 35)

[missboyer3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Like many young people, Tom would rather be having fun than going to school and church. This is always getting him into trouble, from which he finds unusual solutions. One of the great scenes in this book has Tom persuading his friends to help him whitewash a fence by making them think that nothing could be finer than doing his punishment for playing hooky from school. When I first read this story, it opened up my mind to the potential power of persuasion.Tom also is given up for dead and has the unusual experience of watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That's something we all should be able to do. By imagining what people will say at our funeral, we can help establish the purpose of our own lives. Mark Twain has given us a powerful tool for self-examination in this wonderful sequence.Tom and Huck Finn also witness a murder, and have to decide how to handle the fact that they were not supposed to be there and their fear of retribution from the murderer, Injun Joe.

[shesinplainview · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Totally fun, story of a mischevious, very likeable boy and his adventures with his friends.

[david.alfred.sarkies · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Looking over the reviews of this book I noticed that they swing from being 'a classic account of boys on the loose in frontier America' to 'I want to punch Tom Sawyer in the face.' One reviewer has commented on how is mum owned a dog-eared copy of this book from before he was born to after he left home to go to college (and if he doesn't want it, I'll be more than happy to take it off his hands) which made me realise how our parent's taste in literature can and does differ from our own. I grew up knowing about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but I have never actually read the books, and to be honest, never even realised that there was a book wholly dedicated to Tom Sawyer until a couple of years ago, and based on my parents collection of books (namely Hard Science-fiction, which is not surprising for a father who is a physicist, and detective fiction dominated by Agatha Christie) the works of Mark Twain never really entered my sphere of influence.However I recently picked up a collection of his works and decided to see what these stories were about, and I must admit that I actually quite enjoyed this tale of mischievous boyhood. Seriously, letting the entire town grieve for your death and then rocking up at your funeral really does take some guts, and I must admit that it would have been something I would have loved to have done when I was a kid. In fact, the impression that I get from this story is that it is simply Samuel Clements (using a psuedonym) recounting a lot of the mischief he and his friends got up to as children but rolling it all into one character so as to protect the guilty.There are two things that really stand out to me about this book and the first is that I found it very readable, which is something that I generally do not expect from 19th Century literature. True Clements does get bogged down into detail, but there is enough action to keep us interested, and the banter among the main characters it really enjoyable to follow, particularly when Sawyer convinces young Becky Thatcher to become engaged to him, explaining to her what engagement is from a conservative, respectful, point of view. The second thing that stood out was that it gives us a very clear view of a time gone by, an age of innocence in the American mid-west. In a way it takes us away from the troubles of today and puts us in a world where things did not seem as bad.Granted, there is a murder, and there are troubles with children getting lost in caves, but even then, we glimpse a more innocent time in the United States, though there are a few interesting quotes, such as Negroes always being liars (which raises the question of whether Samuel Clements was a southern sympathiser, despite the book being written after the Civil War, though the events are flagged as being set prior to the said war). I also see a number of influences on children's literature of today, not to say that people didn't write books for children back then, but he does say at the beginning that while this book is written for boys, he does hope that adults would enjoy this story as well.I must finish off about the story of whitewashing the fence, which is the first event in the book. Poor Tom has got himself into trouble, and has been punished by having to paint the fence, something he does not want to do, but somehow he manages to get others to do it in his stead. He does this trick (I believe) by asking somebody to pay him for the privilege, and Clements then points out afterwards that if we are paid to do something, then it is considered work, and is dull and boring, but if we pay to do something, then it is entertainment and we do it with gusto, so his theory is that if we get people to pay to do the things we don't want to do, then we will get things done a lot better and a lot quicker, than we would otherwise (and there have been movies made about how people pay to become ranchers), but I suspect that this is something that only foolish boys would do, and us adults are (I hope) probably a lot smarter than this, though I do actually wonder about it sometimes (such as celebrities paying to sleep out on the streets, seriously, if you really want to experience poverty, then give up all your riches - don't give it up for a short time, that, to me, is little more than a publicity stunt).

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Grover Gardner was wonderful in his narration of this classic. My biggest complaint is that the audiobook "chapters" had no bearing on the chapters of the text (maybe they were the cassette sides of the original recording??)

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Allow me to preface this review by informing my reader that I do not much care for southern accents. I do not find them appealing. I say this as a southern girl (with no accent...I'm Atlanta born and raised). This audiobook definitely plays up the southern-ness of the story. The narrator pulls out the accent, which, perfectly fitting to the story though it may be, annoys me greatly.

In middle school, I had to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which seemed to me at the time to be essentially a form of torture exacted by my teacher. I can say, gratefully, that this one was not so bad, although whether that is the audio format or the different, shorter book, it's hard to say.

The story did not hugely impress me, although it was interesting to learn the details of a book about which my only knowledge was drawn from Wishbone. True fact. As I was listening, I kept trying to remember what I knew about it and I just now realized that all I know is thanks to a spunky Jack Russell terrier. Man, I miss that show.

Anyway, the book was not too bad. Except for the blatant racism. The discussions of black people and of Injun Joe were certainly what would be expected of a man of Twain's time, but definitely are completely awful. Also, there was one scene in which Tom was talking about being a pirate in which he describes how pirates or robbers get ladies; his description is essentially of Stockholm Syndrome. Terrifying!!!

Lynch did, accent issues put aside, a really good job with the book. His voices were really unique, almost always allowing me to know who was speaking, even if I missed the part that said who was talking. Aunt Polly's voice definitely grated, even beyond the accent, but I thought his Tom definitely conveyed the excitement of a young, incorrigible boy.

The production of the audiobook seems to have been done pretty well. I liked the music, which had a sort of slouch-y, casual southern feel to it that fit perfectly. What was odd, though, was that the music seemed to occur at completely random intervals.

[countrylife_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book is SO much better than the movies! Can?t believe it?s taken me over five decades to read this. Classic for a reason ? Mark Twain has such a way with words.

[bobby3457 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tom Sawyer is a boy that always gets in trouble, if its swiping a pie or sneeking out late. But he gets into real trouble when he witnesses a murder with his best friend Huckleberry Finn. They swear an blood oath that they won't tell a soul what they saw. But when Muff Potter gets arrested for the murder Tom has the choice of telling everyone the truth about who really cmmited the murder of letting someone who didn't do anything die for it. After the murder is dealt with Injun Joe is a wanted man by the law. Tom and Huck hear about a treasure and they want to find it. Too bad that injun Joe is the one with it.I liked this book for lots of reasons. Mark Twain did a good job on the description of this book. He made Tom sound like the worst kid on the face of this earth and he probably is. I especially liked the ending because a boy that doesn't have a home gets one and Tom and Huck become rich.

[multifaceted_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think more people should read this book! I read it as a young girl, and it was the book that made me love Mark Twain's writing--and classics in general, in fact. Yes, it is a boys' novel, but it can be interesting to girls as well, thank you very much. I remember this being quite an easy and suspenseful read, as well, and it contained a good mix between realistic fiction and elements of ?fantasy?, of a sort?so there?s no reason not to try it!While different from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I think this is a great, hilarious introduction to that book. Maybe because I read these two books almost simultaneously one after another, I can?t imagine *not* reading them in conjunction with one another. This book is where we first meet Huck Finn and get a little background on him, after all. And, of course, it's full of Twain's usual humor and wit. Maybe if more people would read Tom Sawyer before Huck Finn, they would understand the latter a bit better, and not feel the need to ban it or condemn it... or maybe I?m just obsessive. :)

[ramzartso-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great adventure...

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This novel is full of high adventure of the kind that has disappeared for most children today. Tom and friends are full of imaginative play that they carry out in the wooded areas around their town. They play hooky and trade in junk and have all kinds of superstitious explanations for the world around them. While this book doesn't have any profound themes, it pictures of way of life, mostly gone, in such vivid detail that it seems to come to life again.

[andyray_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This little paperback will do until (and if) I find my first edition. Hemingway and others have said Huckleberry Finn is the classic American novel, but I think this one is head and shoulders above Huck's book.

[foof2you · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Never read this during all my school years so I thought I had to give it a shot. I was surprised. I found the book to be rather enjoyable and unlike many other "classics" that fail to live up to the hype. A great story and definitely a classic.

[platicorn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i absolutely loved it!

[quaintlittlehead · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The trouble with "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is, and always has been, its audience. Nobody knows for sure whether it was meant as a children's (more likely t(w)eenager's) book or an adult's view of a child's world. While on the mature side for the former, it lacks the depth of its successor, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Yet while the sheer delight of the book makes it a treat for any audience, there are a couple of compelling reasons that everyone, at some point in their lives, should read it.First of all, the youthly viewpoint is a marvel of characterisation. Just as it seems a rare and precious wonder when a male author successfully captures the viewpoint of a female character, or vice versa, it is a notable thing when an author crafts a young character who truly lives and breathes the way someone that age would. Yes, certainly, they are many wonderful young characters in literature who are fabulous because adults and children alike see an amusing caricature of recognisable elements of childhood--think Christopher Robin and his plush menagerie, for example--but there are few so vivid that they live eternally. Mark Twain knows the young male mind, and even in an age of video games and plastic-enclosed fast-food playlands, when I read his detailed inventories of the contents of young Tom's pockets and the importance of trading such pitiful treasures as marbles and beetles to acquire more and better junk, I think, "I KNOW that kid. I teach that kid in my third grade class." Modern boys may have substituted Pokemon cards and plastic Halo figurines, but the mindset about the junk in the pockets is still the same; and, I imagine, if modern parents were far less guarded about things like letting their children roam about town after sunset and explore uncharted caves than the adults of fictional St. Petersburg were, I suspect that just as many of the young boys I know would be running away from home in the summer to play pirate.Second, the book has a very subtle hint of predestination about the whole plot, with so many Dickensian coincidences that just happen to work out for Tom and Huck, yet this is surely due not just to the influence of Twain's great literary contemporary but also, and perhaps in larger part, to the Presbyterian upbringing that Twain at times seems to admire, and at other times seems to satirise. This sense of the possibility of an overarching plan for the world (whether Heavenly or merely authorial) reaches its peak in one of the most chilling scenes near the end of the novel:"The captive had broken off the stalagmite, and upon the stump had placed a stone, wherein he had scooped a shallow hollow to catch the precious drop that fell once every three minutes with the dreary regularity of a clock tick--a dessert spoonful once in four and twenty hours. That drop was falling when the Pyramids were new; when Troy fell; when the foundations of Rome were laid; when Christ was crucified; when the Conqueror created the British empire; when Columbus sailed; when the massacre at Lexington was 'news.' It is falling now; it will still be falling when all these things shall have sunk down the afternoon of history, and the twilight of tradition, and been swallowed up in the thick night of oblivion. Has everything a purpose and a mission? Did this drop fall patiently during five thousand years to be ready for this flitting human insect's need? and has it another important object to accomplish ten thousand years to come? No matter."I'll avoid continuing the citation any further to avoid spoilers for any readers who might not yet know to which captive this passage refers or what the outcome of his fate might be; suffice it to say, what continues suggests that though we may not be certain of a purpose, we look longest at the things that might have one. This helps to explain the enduring popularity of "Tom Sawyer." While many critics cite its importance as "the book that paved the way for 'Huckleberry Finn,'" there are signs throughout of a masterful author saying, "I know what I'm doing." Leave it to Mark Twain to sum up the very significance of his writing, and of religion's role in society, by saying "no matter."If the book should be read, then, the question still remains as to who should read it. Young people are definitely capable of enjoying it, but as with its more famous sequel, the racial overtones (not only with regards to slaves, but also the portrayal of the book's "half-breed" Native American antagonist) prove troubling for many readers. I would thus recommend that it be placed into a young person's hands, not with abandon and trust as Aunt Polly does in giving Tom the "Painkiller," but with careful guidance about the historical setting and thought about the parallels in today's society. Beyond that, the vocabulary may also prove tricky for elementary readers. Middle schoolers or early high schoolers (ages 11-14) may be able to get a handle on it with a well-noted edition or a dictionary at hand, however.The Barnes and Noble edition of this book contains a biographical sketch and timeline of the author's life; an introduction by H. Daniel Peck of Vassar College; both footnotes and endnotes glossing difficult vocabulary (a bit irritatingly over-thorough for the well-read adult, though) and noting real-life places or people in Hannibal, Missouri to which the book seems to be making reference; a description of other artistic works inspired by the book; a series of citations from both contemporary and later reviews of the book, alongside a series of questions for the reader's consideration; and a bibliography for further reference on Twain.