I'm a big Mark Twain fan and thought Fleischman did a splendid job giving young readers a sense of the young writer through energetic and humorous writing. Goes down easily, well researched (Fleischman is clear that it is hard to separate fact from fiction with Twain), and designed too (at least the ARC was).

(Very detailed review, because I'm prepping for a Mock Newbery discussion.)Mixed feelings on this one.I like what Fleischman did here--his biography of Mark Twain is colorful and funny, which makes total sense. The photographs and illustrations add a lot. And I liked that he included a long excerpt of Twain's writing, though I think I would have preferred an excerpt from anything more kid-friendly--Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Connecticut Yankee--to part of "The Jumping Frog of Calaver [...]

Mark Twain was certainly an unusual man that kids will love learning about in the book The Trouble Begins at 8. The real trouble will be getting kids to pick up this book. It’s wonderfully well written, highly amusing, and accurate, but I doubt if kids will want to read about Mark Twain, since few have read his books. The book is aimed for 9-14 year olds, and I am highly curious to know the nine year old who has read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The Gilded Age. Even though I have already re [...]

Fleischman, Sid. 2008. The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain In the Wild, Wild West.I loved Trouble Begins at 8. Loved it. Which is to say that I more than appreciated what it had to offer. More than saw it as a good nonfiction title. I mean really and truly loved, loved, loved it. Something I usually only reserve for fiction. Sid Fleischman is awesome. His writing is just amazing. His gift with words, his literary style, was just brilliant on this one. Listen to the first sentence of ch [...]

Who is Mark Twain? And What did he do with Samuel Clemens? Even if you know that "mark twain" is a riverboat term, there is still a lot to learn about the man born Samuel Clemens: his fascination with mining and get-rich-quick schemes; his travel to the South Pacific, and his evolution as a journalist. This illustrated biography looks into the adult life of Mark Twain and the life behind the famous stories.This is fascinating reading. The author presents this biography in the same way Sam Clemen [...]

Charming, funny and informative, Sid Fleischman's terrific book looks at Twain's early days when he began his literary journey with his travels to the American west. Filled with memorable quotes and in a style that honors Twain's, this is a book that will tickle the funny bone of a whole class in a read-aloud or an individual reader meeting Twain for the first time. The book appears young at first glance but I think the inclusion of so much of Twain's writing pushes the level up.

Sid Fleischman's biography of this clever, funny man will appeal to a wide range of readers. Middle and junior high school readers will be able to appreciate the humor and wit in Clemens' musings, many of which are reproduced. A solid book that I would not be surprised to see garner awards at the end of the year.

I love Sid Fleischman's biographies. The Trouble Begins at 8 is no exception. The title refers to Twain's own poster for his lectures which announced that the doors would open at 7 o'clock with "The Trouble to Begin at 8 o'clock."The advantages to Fleischman's biographies (I highly recommend his other two on Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin.) are: (1) he approaches his subject with the sensibilities of a Newberry-Award-winning novelist, which is to say, as a story; (2) his language is easily ac [...]

Mark Twain is by far my favorite canonical author of American literature. Or just literature in general. He is so incredibly quotable and subverts the status quo so his larger than life persona is certainly a biographer's dream. I enjoyed this book for the most part. I did, however, think it was hard to distinguish whether this was a book for kids or adults. Yes, I found it in the juvenile section of the library, but there were many occasions where I thought to myself that this book would fare b [...]

Gr 5-9-This biography covers enough of Samuel Clemens's youth for readers to appreciate how autobiographical Twain's later novels were, but the seven years that the writer spent meandering the Wild West are at the heart of the book. Fleischman chronicles Clemens's various bouts of gold fever and get-rich-quick schemes in the Nevada Territory and the San Francisco area, but shows that it was always his newspaper writing that provided stability. At age 30, Clemens was reborn as Mark Twain when his [...]

Pros:1. A fast read. Surprising for any biographical book regardless of its intended audience.2. This book largely succeeded in reflecting the adventurous and humorous life of Mark Twain with its writing style. Cons:1. I realize if I wanted to learn more about Mark Twain perhaps I should have began with his own autobiography. (Or at the very least .) 2. I'm not sure (even with a more adventurous writing style) this book would interest its intended young audience. As for we adults, I would have l [...]

Fleischman's own love of the absurd, the fanciful, and the ridiculous-yet-believable makes him the ideal biographer for Mark Twain. Both Twain and Fleischman are able satirists, great at telling a funny story that you laugh and laugh over, only later to realize that they were teaching you something at the same time as they were tickling your funny bone. The Trouble Begins at 8 focuses on Samuel Clemens' metamorphosis from human tumbleweed who acquired and abandoned jobs freely to a celebrated hu [...]

This was an odd but entertaining biography on Samuel Clements, aka Mark Twain. While I enjoyed reading, it's not something most older children/teens would benefit from in regard to learning enough about the famous author to write a biography report on. The information was there but it was delivered in a more story or tall-tale format, much like Twain himself would have written it. Points for creativity but negative marks for obfuscation.

At first, I was thrown off by Fleischman's over-exaggerations of his life (not really knowing very much about Twain's known over-exaggerations in his own life), but when I read the Author's afterword I understood why he made the book into an over-the-top event. Twain who was a self-made man liked to joke, pump up his chest, and would be known to fib on occasion if that helped his story move along. This biography was gripping and made me appreciate Twain's work even more.

Witty, hilarious and a rollicking fun read. Great way to get into the psyche of Mark Twain, his misadventures and how his life shaped his stories. Really entertaining but insightful read. Short enough that you can finish it off in a sitting.

One of my favorite biographies! Super informative and entertaining--my ten-year-old and I both loved it, and it made our visit of the Mark Twain House in Hartford even more special. :)

Short but good

An entertaining telling of Twain's life filled with great puns.

time is engaging for a wide range of students. Another book that was featured by the Orbis Pictus award for outstanding nonfiction for children, was The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West, by Sid Fleischman. Fleischman’s story of Samuel Clemens tells the coming of age story of a nobody that’s adventurous life turned him into a very well-known somebody. Starting in his childhood Fleischman walks the reader through Mark Twain’s early years, giving the reader a g [...]

Reading about Twain can be fun and Fleischman proved it!A thorough, detailed, beautifully written book about one of the most beloved authors of all time, Samuel Clemens, but we know him as the master-writer of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Mark Twain. Sid Fleischman has once again taken a topic that causes most kids to run screaming in the opposite direction - and made it interesting, intriguing and most importantly - Fun! You will thoroughly enjoy the wisecrack for which the book is named"The Troubl [...]

As a young troublemaker growing up in small-town Hannibal, Missouri, Sam Clemens never would have guessed that he would someday become the wealthy and famous author Mark Twain. (We should be glad he chose the river jargon Mark Twain as his pseudonym because we might have ended up with a distinguished American literary figure named W. Epaminondas Blab or Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.) During his wild and varied life, Sam would work as a printer, a Mississippi riverboat pilot, a journalist, a gold p [...]

Originally rated E by Marta WilkinSid Fleischman’s biography of Mark Twain is similar the author’s portrayal of Harry Houdini in Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini. The book is much or anecdotal than the typical biography and mainly covers the time Clemens/Twain spent in the West during and after the Civil War. There are many great illustrations, both drawings and photographs. Twain’s famous short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, is found at the end of the book, [...]

Everything about this book suggests the time and place and life of Mark Twain: off-white creamy paper, flourishes on each chapter heading, archival photographs, cartoons and paintings. Fleischman’s style is also appropriate, folksy and humorous, with comments such as ‘Nothing traveled fast in those days except the common cold’. Short chapters, double-spaced text, oversized format and tidbits of interesting information will draw young readers into this biography, Fleischman’s second in tw [...]

I'm not a big Twain fan, so I was a little unsure going into this one. But let me tell you - this is a great story on its own merits. Sure, I think it would help going in to know what a famous literary figure Twain turned into, but I don't buy the argument that kids won't read it because it's about a dead writer they don't care about. Fleischman does a fantastic job of showing the tragedy, humor and adventure in Twain's life, using a chatty, over-the-top style that's perfectly suited to his subj [...]

Mark Twain was born fully grown, with a cheap cigar clamped between his teeth . . . While not as in-depth as a scholarly biography of Twain for adults nor the same as reading Twain himself, this is probably the next best thing in both instances--an engaging way to introduce kids to both the man and his writing. Fleischman has always been a clear descendant of Twain and he does a good job of using Twain-like language to tell the story of the man's early years, how he went from being born Samuel C [...]

I was browsing the new non-fiction titles in the children's section at the library, looking for any books about penguins or dinosaurs that might interest my 3 year old when this book caught my attention. The book itself, the size, cover, photographs and illustrations were appealing and I was curious to read a biography about Mark Twain that was written for children.Writing a biography about Mark Twain can't be an easy task, especially one aimed at young children. Twain did not exactly leave a lo [...]

The cool title gets explained in the foreword of this biography of Mark Twain as well as every silly and serious thing that happened to Mark Twain. While nothing delves too deep into any of the events, the stories he published, the books or the life he led, it does paint a broad picture of the man that took to wearing white suits in his later years. Everything from his time on a Mississippi steamer to his travels out west and his love for Hawaii (then called the Sandwich Islands-- which was a ne [...]

The Trouble Begins at 8 is a chapter book that also includes pictures from Mark Twain’s life, illustrations from his books, and photos of movie adaptations. This book covers the span of his life, from birth to death. The beginning of the book refers to Mark Twain by his birth name, Sam Clemens, and discusses his childhood in Missouri and how it helped to shape his stories later on in life. Sam Clemens adventures away from his family at age 17 and begins his adult life training and working as a [...]

Have you met Mark Twain? If you haven't, or if you met some stodgy old coot, you should pick up this biography and meet the hilariously funny alter ego of Samuel Clemens! The title of Sid Fleischman's newest book comes from the original publicity posters created by Mark Twain for his first lecture: "Doors open at 7, the trouble to begin at 8." Samuel Clemens was one for adventure of all kinds, from piloting riverboats on the Mississippi, writing as a journalist, humorist and novelist, prospectin [...]

Really enjoyed this one. Ordering it for our kiddos this morning, in fact--can't believe I missed this one. Thanks to our library's OverDrive service, I've been able to double-up on a lot of my "reading" by doing Audio books while I have "quality-stack-time" around the library.This was a great recounting of Mark Twain's life--it pulls in a lot of Twain's own words, so you get a lot of his original wit. I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. (I know, shhh-right?) Sid Fleischman cover [...]