Student Book Review:


Prince and the Pauper, The - classic

by: Mark Twain

Review done by:

 Bryan L.
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

This book was written by a famous author named Mark Twain. (He also wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ). It was full of action and excitement.
The book is about a prince, Edward, a pauper, Tom, and a friend, Sir Miles. During the book Edward and Tom switch places to see what each others lives are like. When Edward leaves he meets a very mean guard that taunts him. Also when the young prince of Whales declared that he was the prince everyone laughed, because he was wearing the pauper's clothes. After he got away from the mob of people, he ran into Tom's father (John Canty) who was a thief. John wanted Edward to beg and steal, so Edward ran away. At the same time the King had died and they proclaimed Tom as the new king. As this happened and everyone was celebrating the prince had met a new friend, Miles. Then when the news of the kings death came, Edward named Miles a knight.
The rest of the book is about Edward and Miles trying to get back to the thrown. My favorite part was when Miles saved Edward. An old hermit let the young king, Edward, stay for the night. They shared a hardy feast and had lots of fun. Then they talked and talked by the fire, sharing their stories. Then while Edward was asleep the hermit bound his hands and legs with rope and gaged him with a piece of cloth. Just as the old man was about to kill the young king, Sir Miles burst in and killed the hermit. Mark Twain's book about the eighteenth century was a very good book and you can really get into it. This book I am mainly recommending for advanced readers because of its length and literary content. There are also some terms that you might not understand such as thou, thee, and thy. This book is full of adventures, stories within stories, and action. This really was a fantastic book to read. I recommend this for ages nine and up.
So if you are looking for a book and you would like a bit of a challenge, this is definitely the book for you. Also, if you like The Prince and the Pauper, you should read some of Twain's other books. ( I mentioned a few in the beginning of this review).
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