<Tr> <Th> Followed by </Th> <Td> Adventures of Huckleberry Finn </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Text </Th> <Td> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Wikisource </Td> </Tr> <P> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River . It is set in the 1840s in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy . </P> <P> Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly and his half - brother Sid . He skips school to swim and is made to whitewash the fence the next day as punishment . He cleverly persuades his friends to trade him small treasures for the privilege of doing his work . </P>

What is the book the adventures of tom sawyer about