If you have not read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, it is the story of a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River, a sort of coming of age story. It is set in a fictional town with fictional characters, both of which are drawn on the real life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a., Mark Twain. Twain's novel is packed full of adventure including a murder, love, and buried treasure.
At book club, we continued discussing setting, characters, plot, conflict, and theme. I also introduced the terms, protagonist and antagonist. Prior to meeting, I referenced both Reading Roadmaps and Teaching the Classics by Adam and Missy Andrews, as well as Spark Notes for leadership ideas. Once again, the kids amazed me with their ability to dig in and produce great discussion.
We're currently reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens for our November club meeting. I'm in the process of trying to figure out which elements to introduce and add to the discussion. I will follow-up and let you know how it goes.
Since The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was originally published in 1876, I'm using it as my 19th Century read in the 2015 Back to the Classics Challenge.
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