The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by the famous American writer Mark Twain, was first published in 1876. This classic children’s book also appeals to many grown-up readers. It follows the escapades of a crafty young boy named Tom who lives in the fictional town of St. Petersburg along the Mississippi River back in the mid-1800s.

Recommended for:

Beginner to intermediate readers interested in classic American literature and tales of childhood adventure.
Ages 12 to adult.

You will:

Enjoy a classic work of American fiction written by one of the most renowned authors, Mark Twain.
Follow the humorous and mischievous antics of the young protagonist Tom Sawyer.
Learn about life in a 19th century small town in the American Midwest.
Be entertained by the imaginative adventures and exploits of Tom and his friend Huckleberry Finn.

Plot

Tom is an orphan boy living with his aunt Polly and half-brother Sid. Sid is well-behaved, but Tom loves skipping school, making trouble, and hanging out with his best pal Huckleberry Finn.

One day Tom comes home with a ripped shirt after a street fight and his aunt punishes him by making him paint the fence but he cleverly gets other kids to do it for him in exchange for little treasures.

Shortly after, Tom and Huck go to the cemetery and see three guys – Dr. Robinson, Muff Potter, and Injun Joe – fighting. Injun Joe kills the young doctor using Muff’s knife. Tom and Huck swear they won’t tell anyone since they’re scared of Injun Joe getting revenge. The next day they find the body and Muff’s arrested.

Later Tom, Joe Harper, and Huck decide to become pirates and escape to Jackson’s Island. They enjoy the freedom and pirate life, while everyone in town thinks they drowned in the river and searches for their bodies. One night Tom secretly goes back and sees Aunt Polly and others suffering. He convinces his friends to return and surprise everyone by showing up at their own funeral. Despite their prank the joy is overwhelming when they turn up alive.

Licensing

Mark Twain. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Originally published in 1876. This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Text from Wikisource: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer
This digital edition is provided by Ebooks-net in 2024 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. The full text of the license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.