Who 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.
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"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin is an interesting and adventurous book. This book makes me feel like I am actually in the story. The book is about a rebellious, mischievous, scheme playing, disobedient kid who lives with his Aunt Polly and older brother Sid. He was always getting into trouble like fighting other kids, and steeling some jam. One day Tom got punished and he had to whitewash an entire fence. He tricked some other kids telling them that whitewashing was a fun so that he could go play with his friend Joe. This book also had some romance; he liked a girl Becky at school. He kissed her and she rejects him. He tells her that he is engaged with someone else to make her jealous and she rejects him again. Tom gets upset and skipped the rest of the school day and he ran into a homeless boy named Huckleberry Fin. He was the town drunk son and he was mischievous too, and they became friends. Tom, Huck, Joe were very close. It was like they were brothers. They liked to play robbers so one time they ran away to an island and pretended they were pirates. Toms Aunt Polly, Joe’s mom thought that they were dead, so, Tom went back home to leave a note telling her that they were alive and safe. Instead came up with a plan he, Huck, and Joe were going to attend their own funeral. That night the three boys spotted Injun Joe, Mr. Muff Potters, and Dr. Roberson. The men were in a grave yard looking for bodies and they were arguing. Then Injun Joe knocked out Mr. Potters and then killed Dr. Roberson. When Mr. Potters woke up, Injun Joe told him that he killed Dr. Roberson. The boys saw the whole thing. They ran away hoping that Injun Joe did not see them. They made a promise not tell anyone what had happened. All though Tom was a bad boy, he also had a kind heart. He didn’t want Mr. Potters to go to jail for something he didn’t do so he broke the promise and the boys went home and Tom told the police that Mr. Potters was not the one that killed Dr. Roberson, it was Injun Joe. By the time he told the police, Injun Joe had ran off. Huck over heard Injun Joe plotting to kill Mrs. Douglass. He was kind hearted person too so he went and told the police and they ran him off. Back at school, Tom was still trying to impress Becky. At lunch she ripped a page from the teacher’s book and Tom took the blame for her and they became friends. Tom’s class went on a field trip to a cave. Becky and Tom got lost inside the cave. While trying to find there way out, the accidentally ran into Injun Joe but he didn’t see them. The saw that he had some valuable treasure. They quietly left unnoticed and fount their way out. They went to go tell that Injun Joe was in the cave but come to find out, the cave had been sealed. By the time they unsealed it, they saw that Injun Joe was already dead. Tom and Huck found the treasure and became rich. Mrs. Douglass was grateful that Huck had saved her so she adopted him. Tom and Huck made a pack to start a gang of robbers when they are grown.
I LOVED this book. It made me feel that Tom’s and my life are the same because I have ran away before, I have stole something before, I’ve got into fights, I played pranks on other people, but I still have a kind heart. Would recommend this book because it is and exciting and fun book to read."
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Vincent (4 out of 5 stars)