The night Halley's comet appeared in 1835, a baby named Samuel Clemens was born. His parents worried that their sickly child wouldn't make it through his first night, but Samuel lived until Halley's comet returned seventy-five years later-and between those two brilliant streaks in the sky, he created the legend known as Mark Twain.
Like Tom Sawyer, young Sam Clemens knew the delicious terror of exploring a haunted cave, and he dreamed of finding a hidden stash of pirate's gold. From playing hooky in Hannibal, Missouri, to piloting steamboats on the Mississippi River, Mark Twain's adventures as a youth influenced his entire life and figured prominently in his writing. The characteristics that often got Sam into trouble-his vivid imagination and knack for manipulating facts-also made Mark Twain a wonderful storyteller.
This is the story of Mark Twain's young life, before the boyish adventurer grew up - before Samuel Clemens became the man we know as Mark Twain.
HARCOURT BRACE & COMPANY