I read this after Huck Finn which is the wrong order, but I liked this one more for sure. Tom Sawyer is definitely more middle-grade and the n-word is thrown around much less in this one. Also the stakes of the adventures are much lower while also being pretty interesting. 

Tom Sawyer takes place in a made up town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. Tom lives with his Aunt Polly and just gets into mischief. He plays pirates, robin hood, etc. but also does a few things that make the town conduct search parties for him. I appreciate that he and Huck Finn stay true to themselves in both books and it’s cute that both boys talk about things they admire about the other in their own stories.

I definitely see how this is part of the American literary canon.