At times, there are works designated as classic that fail over time to live up to that moniker. This book deservedly retains its designation as classic after all of these years. Twain's genius is to depict and describe the dealings of children and adults in much the same language, as the actions of both (sadly) often have more in common than not. Recommended for lovers of classic fiction and/or 19th-century Americana. ( )

Book title and author: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (by Mark Twain). Reviewed 5/15/23.

Why I picked this book up: I was selected for early review in LibraryThing for The Banned Books Compendium: 32 Classic Forbidden Books by Gringory Lukin (Editor. I read one book out if order w so I went back and read this one next.

Thoughts: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel, Tom Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn. Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best selling of Twain's works during his lifetime. Though overshadowed by its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is considered by many to be a masterpiece of American literature. It was one of the first novels to be written on a typewriter.
Tom Sawyer was deemed to be a bad role model for kids, which led to the book being excluded from the children's room in the Brooklyn, N.Y. Public Library (1876) and the Denver, Colo. Public Library (1876). More recently, it was removed from the seventh grade curriculum in the West Chester, Pa. schools (1994) after parents complained that it is too full of racially charged language.
Entire countries ended up banning[…]”. (Unknown author of this snippet in this book. Pg 2096

Why I finished this read: this book: I found this book interesting, crazy boring, lame at time, funny at times and sometimes difficult to continue but I finished it to complete this next book in this arranged compendium. This was like reading a little boys thoughts and seeing him wanting to be older than he is.

Stars rating: it is a classic, not one of my favorites at all but I rated it at 2 of 5. I could have stopped reading it and could have skipped it and not been sad about that choice. I wouldn’t recommend this book. ( )

"Tom!" No answer. "Tom!" No answer. "What's gone with that boy. I wonder? You Tom!" No answer. The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for style, not service.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy.[2] In the novel, Tom Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn.

When choosing to read this book, one has to keep in mind that it is a reflection of the time in which it was written, and therefore has language that reflects the views of the day and is no longer appropriate. That can make reading this a little sour, but overall it's a decent story. One thing that I think is done well is how the children actually seem like children and not just tiny adults. It is a very adventurous story and ties up the loose ends quite nicely. It's not a bad book, but I probably won't reread it. ( )