Bandon Public Library

A memoir of the steamboat era on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War. The first half details a brief history of the river from its discovery by Hernando de Soto in 1541 and describes Twain's career as a Mississippi steamboat pilot, the fulfillment of a childhood dream. The second half of Life on the Mississippi tells of Twain's return, many years after, to travel the river from St. Louis to New Orleans. By then the competition from...

"The eagerly awaited return of master American storyteller Rinker Buck, Life on the Mississippi is an epic, enchanting blend of history and adventure in which Buck builds a wooden flatboat from the grand 'flatboat era' of the 1800s and sails it down the Mississippi River, illuminating the forgotten past of America’s first western frontier. Seven years ago, readers around the country fell in love with a singular American voice: Rinker Buck, whose...

Along a magic-saturated stretch of the Mississippi River near Blue Wing, Minnesota, twelve-year-old Claire and her bullying cousin Duke are drawn into an adventure involving Bodacious Deepthink the Great Rock Troll, a helpful fairy, and a group of trolls searching for their fathers

On April Fool's Day in 1856, a shape-shifting grifter boards a Mississippi riverboat to expose the pretenses, hypocrisies, and self-delusions of his fellow passengers. The con artist assumes numerous identities - a disabled beggar, a charity fundraiser, a successful businessman, an urbane gentleman - to win over his not-entirely-innocent dupes. The central character's shifting identities, as fluid as the river itself, reflect broader aspects of human...

The grand steamer Fevre Dream voyages down the Mississippi, and Captain Marsh finds that his partner is a vampire.

It was more than a century ago that Mark Twain left the notoriously violent Finn, Huckleberry Finn's father, dead, surrounded by such oddities as a wooden leg and women's undergarments. But just exactly how did Finn end up in that room? Clinch takes us on a journey through the mysterious life of an unusual man. Along the way, he introduces us to characters like the Judge--Finn's own frightening father--as well as Finn's sickly brother Will, the hermit...

In 1835, after being turned out by his mean-spirited uncle, Chris Dahlberg decides to harvest some of the timber on his grandfather's land in Minnesota and float the giant logs down the Mississippi River to market in St. Louis.

A young runaway boards a raft and sets off down the Mississippi, setting in motion a series of memorable adventures that have intrigued readers of all ages for over a century. Huck Finn and his loyal companion, the escaped slave Jim, form one of literature's greatest friendships. This abridged, easy-to-read version includes 15 illustrations.

Kenny Salwey is a modern-day American hermit who has lived most of his life in the Mississippi river bottoms, coming to know the river ecosystem with an intimacy unavailable to most. Now, Kenny shares his love of, and knowledge about, the mighty river. The Last River Rat is a seasonal look at Kenny's unique life. Each chapter covers a month of Kenny's year and starts by detailing his activities-such as deer hunting, ginseng digging, or mushroom picking-and...