Mark Twain BY: Beth Baker

Samuel Langhorne Clemens also known as Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He was the son of Jane a native of Kentucky, and John Marshall Clemens, a Virginian by birth. He was the sixth of seven children but only three of his sibling’s survived childhood. When he was four, Twain's family moved to Hannibal, Missouri a port town on the Mississippi River. Missouri was a slave state and young Twain became familiar with the institution of slavery, a theme he would later explore in his writing. When Twain was 11, his father died of pneumonia. The year after his father’s death Twain became a printer’s apprentice. He began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. Mark left Hannibal at the age of eighteen and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. Twain began his career writing light and humorous verses like Huckleberry Finn in where he combined humor and social criticism. Twain’s next major publication was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which drew on his youth in Hannibal. Throughout the book Mark spoke about the adventures he came across while traveling from place to place with his family. He also describes the individuals he met and helped him with the publication of his books. Mark Twain also came across a deep depression when his three daughters passed away each with a different illness. As the years moved on his wife was ill and passed away. Mark then had no family and became lonely after being used to seeing his wife and daughters. It took a certain amount of years for Mark to feel inspired and write books like he used to when he had a family. Mark Twain had a heart attack and passed away. I would recommend this book to a middle school library for students grade six through eight who are interested in knowing the story behind Mark Twain’s life. This book is very appealing and descriptive it informs the reader on Twain’s life and the obstacles he came across.

Karen Salazar