Tom and Huck Get a Makeover

At home on my bookshelf sits an old, hardcover-bound copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Its pages are a bit yellowed as I've had the edition since I was a little girl, the margins and leading wide enough for easy reading and the illustrations floating prettily around the pages in blank ink. Soon after acquiring the edition, I became obsessed with the flick "Mark Twain and Me," watching in a loop on rainy days.

Now, that was how I was introduced to Mark Twain. But kids today might soon be experiencing a different kind of meet-cute. A steampunky one, according to GalleyCat:

Mark Twain‘s famous characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn could star in a steampunk sequel to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. ABC has ordered a script for the possible show titled Finn & Sawyer.
 
The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop: “The drama hails from Detroit 1-8-7 duo Jason Richman and David Zabel and is described as an adventure-themed reinvention that revolves around the two famed literary characters who re-meet as young men in their 20s and form an investigative firm in a bustling and steampunk New Orleans.”

If you want to read Twain’s most famous novels, visit our Free eBook Flowchart to download free copies of the digital books. What is steampunk, you may ask? Follow this link to find out more about the genre. (E. W. Kemble illustration via the 1884 edition of Huckleberry Finn; link via i09)

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The Hollywood Reporter goes on to share more details about the modernization:

Richman and Zabel (ER) will write and executive produce the project from ABC Studios and Temple Hill Entertainment.

Finn & Sawyer is the latest adaptation of the famed novel, which was first published in 1884. Coincidentally, ABC adapted the material for a 1975 TV movie that starred Happy Days duo Ron Howard and Donny Most as Huck and Tom, respectively, and again in 1985 with Drew Barrymore as Hucklemary Finn for another movie of the week.

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I'll admit that this concept could be a very fun one, bringing together two of the most popular young characters in American literature. It reminds me a bit of Jim O'Brien's "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" in a way actually, and those are definitely fun. Yet, the fact that as a result of this new show, many kids will probably meet Tom and Huck in a twisted, steampunked version of the classic Twain novels, is sad to me. They will miss out on so much.