Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(Mark Twain)

The story begins with Tom managing to avoid punishment for eating jam he wasn’t supposed to, setting up his mischievous character. Having skipped school, Tom is forced to spend his weekend whitewashing the fence. He quickly devises a plan and manages to get the town’s boys to pay him for a chance to do it themselves, pretending that it’s a rare joy of an activity. Using the things he got paid with, he trades them in for a set of Sunday school tickets that allow him to get a Bible and impress the just arrived Judge Thatcher. His glory quickly escapes him, though, as he incorrectly answers a basic question about Biblical knowledge.

Tom becomes enamored with the new girl in town- Becky Thatcher- and charms her enough so as to get engaged. This also quickly falls apart as he reveals that he has already been engaged once.

Tom accompanies Huckleberry Finn to the graveyard during midnight to enact a bit of superstition that is meant to get rid of warts. Hidden in the bushes, they end up witnessing the murder of Dr. Robinson by Injun Joe, both of whom were there with Muff Potter to exhume a body. Injun Joe manages to convince the often drunk Muff that it was him that committed the murder in a drunken state but that Injun Joe will cover the evidence up if Muff makes his escape now. Injun Joe leaves the scene untouched though, with Muff’s knife and murder weapon intact. Tom and Huck swear to each other not to tell anyone what they witnessed so as not to risk their lives. Muff Potter is promptly arrested the next morning, with Injun Joe’s false testimony and the murder weapons providing ample evidence.

Some time later, Tom, Huck and Joe Harper leave home to pretend to be pirates on Jackson Island. Not having told anyone about their excursion, the town thinks them missing, then dead after some days of searching. Sneaking home to assure them of their safety, Tom thinks up an idea that will gain them the town’s attention: he plans to have them show up on the day of his own funeral. Doing so, the town rejoices at their return, making friends envious of them.

After some back and forth bickering between Tom and Becky, Tom steps in to save her from a whipping for ripping the teacher’s anatomy book and they reconcile.

After some of the summer is spent, Muff Potter’s trial begins. Both Huck and Tom have been sneaking Muff bits of tobacco and so on throughout his imprisonment, and each time they visit, their guilt at not having said anything about what they know grows. This becomes too much for Tom, and he ends up being a surprise witness on the last day of the trial. As he is about to reveal what actually happened that night, Injun Joe- who was in the audience- escapes. The town admires Tom courage, but the boy himself is terrified of Injun Joe taking revenge on him.

Tom gets the desire to go treasure hunting and gets Huck to go along with him. While searching a haunted house, a deaf and dumb Spaniard who has been seen around St. Petersburg and a sloppy man enter it. Hidden away, the boys learn that the Spaniard is actually Injun Joe. They also see the two criminals discover a stash of money under their own, a stroke of luck that excites the boys. Noting evidence of someone else having been in the house, though, Injun Joe and the other man move the money to another spot.

The boys try to divine where the money could have been hid, and Tom stumbles upon a blacked out Injun Joe in the town tavern. They set up a plan to watch Injun Joe to get a chance at searching the room he was in when he leaves. Becky throws a picnic, and the party ends up exploring the large tunnels of McDougal’s cave. During this event, Huck catches Injun Joe and his partner sneaking off with a box. He follows them up to the Widow Douglas’ house, where he learns Injun Joe plans to cut her face off because her dead husband was the judge who sentenced him. Huck dashes off and- though terrified- informs some nearby neighbors of the threat. The neighbor’s and his sons manage to scare off Injun Joe and the partner, but not catch him. Huck ends up sick with a fever and is bedridden for days.

During Huck’s sickness, it’s found out that Tom and Becky are missing. And after days of searching the cave, they’re given up for dead. Tom and Becky get themselves lost in the tunnels after being chased by bats, and though they wait for rescue, they don’t receive it. Tom takes the initiative to search the caves, but spots Injun Joe off and away in one of the tunnels. Though fear keeps him and Becky rooted near a spring, Tom tries again and finds a way out. As the town has given up their search, Tom and Becky arrive on carriage from five miles down the river.

After having been in bed himself for a few days, Tom learns that Injun Joe’s partner had been found dead and that Judge Thatcher has locked up the cave. Revealing that Injun Joe was within, the town opens up the cave again to see Injun Joe’s corpse right at the entrance. After Huck recovers, Tom suggests that the treasure may have been, not in the tavern, but in the cave. They go spelunking and find all the money Injun Joe and his partner had.

The money is invested for the boys and the Widow Douglas, who learns it was him that helped save her life and takes Huck in. After some time living an ordered life, Huck runs away. Tom manages to get him to come back, though, saying that to form a proper robber’s gang, they would all need to have proper manners. Huck agrees, and the book ends with saying that they grew up happy and prosperous, but without giving any details.