书名：Who Was Mark Twain?

作者：April Jones Prince

出版社名称：Penguin Workshop出版时间：2004

语种：英语

ISBN：9780448433196

商品尺寸：13.6 x 0.8 x 19.3 cm

包装：平装

页数：112（以实物为准）

作为一个幽默家、叙述者和社会观察者，马克·吐温在美国文学中是无与伦比的。作为《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》的作者，马克·吐温和他的主人公哈克一样，有着不安分的精神。他在内华达州发现了寻找银矿的冒险，在密西西比河上驾驶蒸汽船，并使世界各地的人们开怀大笑。但吐温也有严肃的个性，他谴责种族主义和不公正。这本令人愉快的传记坦率地记录了他迷人的一生。

A humorist, narrator, and social observer, Mark Twain is unsurpassed in American literature. Best known as the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, not unlike his protagonist, Huck, has a restless spirit. He found adventure prospecting for silver in Nevada, navigating steamboats down the Mississippi, and making people laugh around the world. But Twain also had a serious streak and decried racism and injustice. His fascinating life is captured candidly in this enjoyable biography.

When April Jones Prince was in first grade, she decided she wanted to be an archaeologist. “I envisioned myself digging up precious historical artifacts and living in a palace,” she says. “Obviously, I didn’t know much about the accommodations of archaeologists in the field!” She did know that she was curious about the details of the past—what people did, ate, and wore. “I grew up fascinated by these things. My mom is a costume historian and my dad is practically a walking history book, so maybe it was inevitable.”

April was also fascinated by books, ideas, and stories. As a child, she loved reading and being read to. When she grew older, April realized she also loved to write. Even back then, her work had a strong nonfiction bent. “I secretly enjoyed writing research papers in school,” she admits. “In college I was a journalism major, and I loved that too. But journalistic writing is so practical—nothing as romantic as being a novelist or poet! Perhaps for that reason, I never really thought of myself as a writer until I began writing for children.”

Today, April feels she has found the perfect vocation: writing about history for young people. “I love taking tantalizing people or ‘nuggets’ from history and weaving them into stories that are exciting and engaging for children,” she says. April enjoys both the writing, and the research. “The research stage is exciting and unpredictable. In a way, I guess it’s my own kind of archaeology—digging up old documents and visiting the nooks and crannies of historical sites and museums. I certainly experience an archaeologist’s thrill of discovery.”

April finds a special delight in creating books for young readers. “The books we love as children affect us like no other books we read in our lifetimes—they stay with us and shape us. Plus, they give kids the perfect opportunity to crawl into the lap of someone who loves them and listen to a good story. What could be better?”