
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain
Read this 19th-century childhood adventure story that confronts the reality of racism in America.
'There comes a time in every boy's life when when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure'
Impish, daring young Tom Sawyer is a hero to his friends and a torment to his relations. For wherever there is mischief or adventure, Tom is at the heart of it. During one hot summer, Tom witnesses a murder, runs away to be a pirate, attends his own funeral, rescues an innocent man from the gallows, searches for treasure in a haunted house, foils a devilish plot and discovers a box of gold. But can he escape his nemesis, the villainous Injun Joe?
BACKSTORY: Find out some fascinating facts about the author and have a go at a game of marbles!
Product Details
About Mark Twain
Reviews for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Independent
Whet juvenile appetites with Tom, his entrepreneurial spirit and his taste for treasure-hunting adventure. A paean to true boyhood
Guardian
The language is hard to begin with but the hero is one of the most endearing in literature
Michael Morpurgo
Daily Telegraph
Twain had a gift for reliving the innermost feelings of growing up, the insecurity, fears and hopes that lie beneath the swagger that young boys maintain. He turned them into literature
Daily Mail
Tom and Huck Finn are as immortal as their swashbuckling friendship
Daily Mail
So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics!
National Association for the Teaching of English