Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer among the Indians

by Mark Twain, Lee Nelson Narrated by Grover Gardner

Overview

In 1885, while The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was becoming one of the bestselling American classics of modern times, Mark Twain began this sequel in which Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Jim head west on the trail of two white girls kidnapped by Sioux warriors. Fifteen thousand words into the work, Twain stopped in the middle of a sentence, never to go back. The unfinished story sat on dusty shelves for more than a hundred years until author Lee Nelson decided to finish it, using Twain's incomplete manuscripts. The result is a story of adventure, wit, and wisdom, with readers saying they can't tell where Twain leaves off and Nelson begins. Tom and Huck seek true love while tramping through Indian country, stealing from the US Army, facing a gunfight and hangman's noose in California, and learning the hard way that “book Injuns and real Injuns ain't the same.”

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Though Twain began this story in 1885, it was never finished. As it opens, Tom convinces Huck and freed-slave Jim to head West to live with the "Injuns," just to prove that the red men are not the ornery savages the Widow Douglas has insisted they are. They soon join up with the Oregon-bound Mills family. A group of Sioux warriors befriend them but then slaughters the Mills boys and their parents, carrying off the two daughters, Peggy and Flaxy, and Jim. Huck and Tom join forces with Peggy's fianc , Brace, to rescue the captives and approach the Indian camp-and here ends Twain's part of the story. Nelson continues with Brace being killed and Tom and Huck left to continue the rescue. As was Twain's wont, Nelson does not shy away from touchy subjects-Peggy is raped by both the Indians and a white trader; an army sergeant molests unsuspecting adolescent boys, and relations between the Mormons and the U.S. are badly strained. There are scalpings, shootings, and a near hanging but by the end, Huck seems to be turning himself into "a right civilized" type, marrying Peggy and heading off into the sunset to start a new life. Nelson makes an effort to retain Twain's style of writing and does rather well with it. The adventure and harrowing escapes will keep readers interested, although purists may question whether Twain would have allowed Huck to give up his independence to marry Peggy. Nonetheless, the plot is intriguing, suspenseful, and well told, with plenty of realistic details to set the mood. Though Tom and Jim figure prominently in the beginning of this story, Huck is the clear hero, and his basic goodness never comes into question.-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

APR/MAY 04 - AudioFile

Mark Twain’s immortal characters come alive again in this sequel to THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. Lee Nelson has picked up where Twain left off, using his unfinished manuscripts. The story is done well, capturing the spirit and adventure of Tom and Huck. Grover Gardner tells the tale in fine form, using the dialect made famous by Twain, and pacing the plot just as nicely. Tom and Huck find adventure on the Plains when they set out to learn what real Indians are like. The characters they meet are reminiscent of those in James Fenimore Cooper’s LEATHERSTOCKING TALES. As in the earlier book, the pair find more than they bargained for. D.L.M. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169746891
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	01/01/2007
Edition description:	Unabridged

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