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Summary
Summary
Becky Thatcher has her side of the story to tell--and it's a whopper--in this creative spin on Mark Twain's beloved The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , complete with illustrations.
Tom Sawyer's and Huckleberry Finn's adventures are legendary, but what about the story you haven't heard? In 1860, eleven-year-old Becky Thatcher is the new girl in town, determined to have adventures like she promised her brother Jon before he died. With her Mama frozen in grief and her Daddy busy as town judge, Becky spends much of her time on her own, getting into mischief. Before long, she joins the boys at school in a bet to steal from the Widow Douglas, and Becky convinces her new best friend, Amy Lawrence, to join her.
But the theft doesn't go as planned, and Widow Douglas ends up being unfairly accused of grave robbing as a result. So Becky concocts a plan to clear the Widow's name. If she pulls it off, she might just get her Mama to notice her again, as well as fulfill her promise to Jon in a most unexpected way. That is, if that tattletale Tom Sawyer will quit following her around.
Author Notes
Jessica Lawson is the author of The Actual & Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher , a book that Publishers Weekly called "a delightfully clever debut" in a starred review, and Nooks & Crannies , a Junior Library Guild Selection and recipient of three starred reviews. She is also the author of Waiting for Augusta , Under the Bottle Bridge , and How to Save a Queendom . You can visit her at JessicaLawsonBooks.com.
Iacopo Bruno is an illustrator and graphic designer living in Milan, Italy.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Lawson makes a delightfully clever debut with what at first seems to be a feminist spin on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: What if Becky Thatcher were the troublemaker and adventurer, and Tom a goody-goody tattletale? But the presence of a character named Sam Clemens, "the story man," as Becky dubs him, taking constant notes, adds a deeper metafictional layer to the story. Lawson delivers an entertaining tale, but also writes movingly about grief. Becky is struggling with the death of her older brother, Jon, a year earlier, and with the simultaneous loss of her mother, now a silent mourning shadow, incapable of showing love for Becky. There is plenty of small-town adventure involving escaped thieves, graveyard escapades, and a possible witch. Trained by Jon, brave Becky is an authentic tomboy who prides herself on her spitting and ear-flicking, as well as an open-hearted and loyal friend, and her final conversation with Clemens in the closing pages makes Lawson's real premise deliciously clear. A rewarding read on many levels. Ages 8-12. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Becky Thatcher is determined to remember her deceased brother by having the adventures he should have had. She finds that Tom Sawyer is a tattletale, but his brother, Sid, is a kindred spirit; their exploits unfold with mischief and fun. Lawson, with her storyteller's ear for language, is respectful of Twain's classic as she tells alternate stories of St. Petersburg, Missouri. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Lawson channels her inner Mark Twain (especially in the use of colloquial speech) in this debut novel featuring a feisty Becky Thatcher. Lawson's Becky comes with a rich backstory: she is new to town, grieving the recent death of her adventurous brother Jon, and equally comfortable lying to her parents or procuring cemetery dirt after midnight. Conversely, Lawson's Tom Sawyer spends his time tattling on Becky, eschewing adventures because they might lead to trouble, and hanging out with riverboat pilot Samuel Clemens, who has rented a room at Aunt Polly's. After Widow Douglas is wrongly accused of grave robbing, Becky resolves to clear her name and in the process brings to justice criminals who are wanted for robbery and murder. While Twain purists may object to revisions to these iconic characters, Lawson cleverly explains the discrepancy Clemens promises to fictionalize the stories Becky tells him. Give this one to fans of Gloria Whelan's The Wanigan (2002).--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-It's 1860, and 11-year-old Becky Thatcher has just moved to St. Petersburg, Missouri. She's looking for big-time adventure in this small town, and once she meets Sid Sawyer, it doesn't take her long to find it. Pretty soon, she's sneaking out after dark, stealing graveyard dirt at midnight, and keeping an eye out for dead cats to help her win a bet. The only obstacle standing between her and even more excitement is goody-goody tattletale Tom Sawyer. This fast-paced tale is the perfect introduction to Mark Twain's classic characters, but readers who are already familiar with Tom, Sid, Becky, and the Widow Douglas will also appreciate this imaginative, pitch-perfect spin on their classic adventures. Narrator Tavia Gilbert does a phenomenal job. She portrays each character with a different voice, giving the impression that the novel is read by an entire cast of narrators instead of just one person. This fast-paced story is perfect for historical fiction and adventure fans.-Anne Bozievich, Friendship Elementary School, Glen Rock, PA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Here's a different Becky Thatcher: She spews spitballs, prefers overalls to dresses, takes dares from boys and tracks down criminals.In this debut novel, Becky's voice, full of Southern expressions and superstitions, describes events that occur in her new hometown of St. Petersburg, Mo., during the time that steamboat captain and aspiring writer Sam Clemens is boarding with Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly. As Becky digs up a beetle to avenge a cruel insult to her best friend, she muses: "I didn't know why they were called gull beetles, but I reckoned it had something to do with the high-pitched shriek Ruth Bumpner would let out when she found one buried in her egg salad sometime in the next week or so." Even as Becky's adventures reveal bits of plot and characters that will later be found in Mark Twain's writing, readers also enter Becky's personal world, which includes the different ways she and her parents are grieving her beloved brother's death. The novel's predominantly light tone and narrative perspective make the flatness of the villains forgivablethere's a sadistic schoolteacher, a snobbish family and two stupid smugglerswhile Becky and her many allies are all realistically well-rounded. Beneath the lively story is a subtext that both primes readers for reading Mark Twain and responds to the question of where writers find inspiration.Delightful. (Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The Actual & Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher Chapter One Caught in the night My left leg twitched at the tickle of another night-boy. Hidden by the wide trunk of a river sycamore, I shifted in my crouch and reached a hand inside Jon's overalls to trap and smack the creeping skitter. Darn things had been a considerable nuisance since I settled myself along the Mississippi to have a look-see at the grounded steamboat and its crew. The men had piled onshore and hauled sitting logs from the brush while I played at them being pirates and me being a stowaway. With the help of passed flasks and a roaring riverside fire, they'd gone from grumbling to mighty spirited in the last hour, and before long I got sucked in by a story one of them was reading from a tablet of writing paper. I was tolerably invested in the tale of a dimwit and his ornery bullwhip--the dimwit having whipped himself nearly to tears while the bull watched--and barely had time to react when the listener nearest me rose with a chuckle and a belch. While the crew applauded the story's end, I deepened my crouch and slunk farther behind the tree, checking to make sure Jon's marble sack was still stuffed into one of my hip pockets. The belching man stumbled around the fire with a happy laugh. "You mean to tell us," he said, lurching at the storyteller, "that you put those words together in your own head?" "That's how writing generally works," the story man said, standing and stretching. "Think up a few lies, put them to paper. I imagine any of you liars would make a fine writer. Now I best get going, boys. I suggest you find lodging in town somewhere." He dusted stray bits of log bark from his pants and sighed. "I'll be staying in a house on Willow Street if you need me. Blue house, black shutters, white porch." Willow? That was the street we lived on. Forgetting my stowaway role, I backed up and crunched down on an unfortunately placed twig, crying out as the skitter in my overalls came back to life and buzzed around my pant leg. Before I could flee, the storyteller's face was in my own. "Boys, guard your secrets, we've got a spy." The man gave a once-over to my braids and small stature. "A tricky one, by the looks of her." His smile was amused and friendly, but I knew better than to trust a pirate, even a made-up one. Excerpted from The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher by Jessica Lawson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
