The Boys' Life of Mark Twain

"The Boys' Life of Mark Twain" by Albert Bigelow Paine is a story about the early years of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, before he became the famous author Mark Twain. The story begins with his family's move from Tennessee to Missouri and shows what life was like growing up in a slave state. We learn about his family, his health as a child, and how his imagination was sparked by the stories he heard. The book shows how his adventures and the people he met, especially around the Mississippi River, played a big part in shaping the writer he would become. It gives us a peek into the childhood adventures and misbehaving that would later fill his books with so much life and creativity.