March/April - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

"On the banks of the Mississippi, Tom Sawyer and his friends seek out adventure at every turn. Then one fateful night they witness a murder. The boys swear never to reveal the secret and run away to be pirates and search for hidden treasure. But when Tom gets trapped in a cave with the murderer, can he escape unharmed?"

We had yet another really mixed reaction to this month's read; some loved it, some hated it, a few didn't manage to finish it!

Overall thoughts were that the language was very tricky with the dialects and old fashioned phrases, but that it was very exciting in parts once you got into the story. People seemed to like the funny or exciting scenes, but felt that some of the boring parts could have been left out.

Quite a few book group members listened to the audiobook, which they found helpful to get over the barrier of the language and to hear the authentic Southern US accents.

Here are some comments from the group:

"The language was a bit complicated" - Lilah

"It was exciting all the way through" - Tabitha

"The first 30 pages are a bit boring, except the whitewashing." - Sam

"I really enjoyed the pirate island!" - Lottie

"Really good, exciting scenes." - Ana

Alison's picture of Tom and Becky

Page Turners rating for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: 3.5/5