ns of his foster home, and weary of hisdrunkard father's brutality, 14 year-old Huck Finn fakes his own death and setsoff on a raft down the Mississippi River. He is soon joined by Jim, an escapedslave. Together, they experience a series of rollicking adventures that haveamused readers, young and old, for over a century. The fugitives become closefriends as they weather storms together aboard the raft and spend idyllic daysswimming, frying catfish suppers, and enjoying their independence.