These four timeless classics of American fiction explore the trials of growing up and the hypocrisies of nineteenth-century American life. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Escaping society, Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave named Jim take a log raft down the Mississippi River. Their adventures draw them closer together until Huck must make a fateful choice between Jim's freedom and his own salvation. One of the first major novels written in an American vernacular, Mark Twain's masterpiece is an essential part of the United States' national identity. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: This tale of youth and friendship celebrates life on the Mississippi River with humor and thoughtful consideration of issues such as race, religion, and social taboos. Filled with schoolyard pranks, buried treasure, spooky caves, secret gangs, and grave robbers, this highly entertaining novel boasts a cast of immortal characters, including Huckleberry Finn, Becky Thatcher, Aunt Polly, and the Widow Douglas. The Prince and the Pauper: Set in sixteenth-century England, this historical fable tells the story of a prince and a peasant boy who meet by chance and discover their strikingly similar appearances. The two then craft a plot that could unwittingly upend the monarchy: to temporarily switch clothes, thereby swapping lives. Pudd'nhead Wilson: An enslaved woman switches her infant son with her master's child. A New York lawyer moves to the South and is immediately and forever branded a "pudd'nhead." Two Italian noblemen in Missouri become suspects in the murder of a local judge. From these disparate plot strands, Twain fashions a humorous tale of mystery—and a clear-eyed indictment of slavery.
