# The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

**Author:** Mark Twain
**Lexile:** 950L
**Grade range:** Grades 5–8
**Age range:** 10–14
**First published:** 1876
**Page count:** 216
**Genre:** Classic Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780486400778`
**ISBN-10:** `0486400778`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A mischievous boy growing up along the Mississippi River in antebellum Missouri talks his way out of chores, courts Becky Thatcher, witnesses a graveyard murder, and is pursued by the villain Injun Joe. Twain's portrait of small-town boyhood is a staple grades 6-8 text and a Common Core Appendix B exemplar, written in period vernacular that rewards close reading.

## Themes

- childhood
- adventure
- freedom
- small-town life
- moral growth

## Content notes

- period racial language
- violence

Common Sense Media age recommendation: 10+

## Where this book is assigned

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 6-8 story exemplar](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 6-8 story exemplar](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)
- **recommended** · 8th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 6-8 story exemplar](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)

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