This year in my English class, we had to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a classic book written by Mark Twain. As you can imagine, we had to analyze it and do all the work alongside reading the book. Although the reading came with work, I ended up enjoying the overall story. Many times, people seem to lose interest in a book when reading it comes with work to complete along with it, but I try not to let that get the better of me and try to do the work after I’ve enjoyed the book. So far, my strategy has worked out well, from The Outsiders, The Giver, and now The Adventures of Tom Sawyer being all books I have now happily completed. 

The book features the fictional main character Tom Sawyer introducing his character as a very mischievous character with a big imagination. He often gets in trouble and loves to make his own fun. I had my own fun reading about his adventures with his friends, mostly Huckleberry Finn. Each of the characters had their own feeling to them that felt familiar to me, almost like I knew them personally. Twain depicts society and people quite well in this book and often satirizes things that happen in the world throughout the story. He creates lifelike characters, those that would act in a way real kids would, while still having parts that would seem unbelievable and unreal in the real world to make the story interesting. The way Twain words things about society shows his views and also the truth about society. 

Tom and Huckleberry Finn are both young boys that come from different parts of society and different lifestyles that yet, love to play and hang out with each other while trying out their superstitions and beliefs. On many of Tom’s adventures, Huckleberry Finn or Huck, is always the one who seems to stick with Tom and his ideas and beliefs. Both go on different adventures throughout the book and work together often. Each adventure leads to another and it all connects together by the end of the story. Despite their adventures starting off childish, it still managed to pull me in, wanting to find out what happens next. 

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a great classic that I definitely enjoyed. However, this book does feature a certain dialect and language that would not be acceptable today, so if you ever get the chance to read this book, please keep this in mind. Otherwise, this is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested. 

-Nicole R.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.