3Mark Twain's classic novel about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River has continued to delight generations of readers. Whether Tom is tricking the neighborhood boys into doing his chores, or playing hooky from school to play on the river, Twain's first novel is at once a humorous look at boyhood and an irreverent take on the conventions of the 1840's South. Despite its status as a classic of American literature, the novel continues to attract censorship and outright bans for its use of racial slurs common in the antebellum South.