200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Black Friday Sale on Now! Save up to 25% off Books, Toys, Board Games, & Puzzles! ✨

Adventures of Mary Jane

By Hope Jahren
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.88 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 254 ratings, 62 reviews)
Brief Description
In this brand new reimagining, Mary Jane—the red-headed spark from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, who stole Huck's heart in just 30 pages—comes to life with her own story of adventuring down the Mississippi River in the 1840s. The bestselling, award-winning author of Lab Girl... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2600
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In this brand new reimagining, Mary Jane—the red-headed spark from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, who stole Huck's heart in just 30 pages—comes to life with her own story of adventuring down the Mississippi River in the 1840s.

The bestselling, award-winning author of Lab Girl reimagines the world of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of a smart and determined young woman—Mary Jane, the red-headed spark who stole Huck's heart.

"A journey not just along the Mississippi but to the center of the human heart."—Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of She's Not There and co-author of Mad Honey

A COSMOPOLITAN BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR. A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR.

Meet Mary Jane Guild. She's on a dangerous and unpredictable adventure down the Mississippi River—and she'll steal Huck Finn's heart along the way.

In his classic work Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain briefly introduces "Mary Jane, the red-headed one." In no time, Mary Jane becomes the girl Huck thinks about "a many and a many million times." Now author Hope Jahren has created for Mary Jane a life as vivid and compelling as Huck's.

These pages will show you the real Mary Jane. A girl on her own dangerous, unpredictable journey down the Mississippi River in pre-Civil War America. Equipped with an uncanny ability for mathematics, a talent for sewing, and a bale of beaver skins, Mary Jane navigates deadly illnesses, angry mobs, treacherous landowners, outright thieves and swindlers, and more than a thousand miles of muddy water. What's more, she thrives in the face of these challenges, thanks to support from strangers who become friends. Traveling solo requires Mary Jane to grow up fast, but it ultimately leads her to a new resilience, a love of adventure, deep and enduring sisterhood, and a blue-eyed, ponytailed boy she can't stop thinking about.

Jahren offers a wealth of layered characters and deeply researched, authentic details of changing times in the North and South. Using the language and style of Twain and shifting the point of view, she explores timeless themes of duty, family, romance, and betrayal, with grit and courage at the core.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780593484142

Publisher: Random House USA Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 June 2025

Country: United States

Imprint: Delacorte Press

Audience: Teenage

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 464

Collections

Children's Historical Fiction Children’s, Teenage and Educational Fiction Historical Fiction Hope Jahren Penguin Books Young Adult

About the Author

Hope Jahren is a teacher, scientist, and book lover living in Oslo, Norway. Recognized as one Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People, Jahren is the recipient of three Fulbright Awards and was named one of the Brilliant 10 by Popular Science magazine in 2005. She is the author of two works of nonfiction- The Story of More and Lab Girl, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. Adventures of Mary Jane is her first work of fiction.

Also by Hope Jahren

View all
  • Lab Girl
    Lab Girl is an enthralling memoir that beautifully intertwines the personal and professional life of acclaimed geobiologist Hope Jahren. It is a profound tale of passion, perseverance, and the unyielding pursuit of knowledge. From a young age, Jahren was fascinated by science, often playing in her father's laboratory, which laid the groundwork for her illustrious career. The book meticulously details...
    By Hope Jahren
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Browse lists from our team

The Latest at Book Hero

View all

More from Young Adult

View all
  • New Release
    The Naturals: Dangerous Impulses Book 5
    The Naturals are BACK! No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers the highly anticipated new installment in her beloved Naturals Series. Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI's Naturals program at seventeen because she had an incredible ability to read people. Since then, Cassie, fellow profiler Dean, emotion‐reader Michael, lie‐detector Lia, and statistical genius Sloane have caught serial...
    By Jennifer Lynn Barnes
    Paperback
    $2199
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Sixth Faction
    Beatrice Prior stands on the brink of a decision every person in her world must make: five factions, five futures, five lives. She has a plan: she's going to make the bravest choice, and leave Abnegation behind to join Dauntless, even though it means leaving her family behind. But when tragedy strikes at her Choosing Ceremony, everything changes—her world, her...
    By Veronica Roth
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • 21 Days of Fear: A Letters Thriller
    New Release
    21 Days of Fear: A Letters Thriller
    A heart-wrenching YA thriller told in an advent calendar format, paced for amping up the chilling suspense! What would you do to bring your sister back from the dead? After Lucas’s sister mysteriously disappeared ten years ago, his family was torn apart. His mother has been lost in a deep depression ever since, his father has been unable to speak...
    By Hervé Commère
    Hardback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Star Path
    New Release
    The Star Path
    A young whale searches for the whale rider's heir and a teenager takes an epic voyage to Antarctica with a fleet of waka hourua to claim his lost inheritance, in this breathtaking return to the world of global hit The Whale Rider, over thirty years on. From the internationally acclaimed author of The Whale Rider comes a novel about the...
    By Witi Ihimaera Smiler
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    20% off
    Song of the Saltings
    On the isolated island of Brack, the people live by an ancient bargain: every year, a sacrifice must be made to the Glimm, the creature that haunts the salt marshes. Eight years ago, it should have taken Lotta. Instead, the monster spared her and claimed her pony, shattering tradition and anointing her both folk hero and object of suspicion. Now...
    By Rachael King
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    21% off
    Tell Me with Kisses
    From New York Times bestselling author and Wattpad sensation Mercedes Ron comes the English translation of the third in the Tell Me series, where Kamila Hamilton is caught between the two Di Bianco brothers after they burst back into her life. From New York Times bestselling author and Wattpad sensation Mercedes Ron comes the English translation of the third in...
    By Mercedes Ron
    Paperback
    $1900
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Release Me
    The searing second volume in a new series set in the #1 global bestselling Shatter Me universe ten years after the fall of The Reestablishment. Rosabelle Wolff had a plan. Now she wants revenge. To save her sister she needs to get back home and destroy the system that created her. Rosabelle’s greatest strength is her ability to deaden her...
    By Tahereh Mafi
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Language of Dragons
    The most exciting debut of 2025 – an incredible fantasy Dark Academia, perfect for fans of Babel, Fourth Wing, and the Scholomance trilogy. EVERY FIRE STARTS WITH A SINGLE SPARK. Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons. London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules,...
    By S. F. Williamson
    Paperback
    $2099
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Shatter Me: Shatter Me series 1
    Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a gripping dystopian novel that plunges readers into a world where society is on the brink of collapse. At the heart of this chaos is Juliette, a 17-year-old girl with a fatal touch—literally. For 264 days, Juliette has been imprisoned in solitary confinement, her only crime being an accidental touch that resulted in death....
    By Tahereh Mafi
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Cozy Corner
    Relax and unwind with this adorable colouring book – it’s time to get cozy! Step into a world of calm and comfort with Cozy Corner, featuring 45 beautiful hand-drawn pages ready for you to colour in. Settle into your very own cozy corner with these brand new colouring pages! This follow-up to Coco Wyo's beloved Little Corner promises a new...
    By Coco Wyo
    Paperback
    $1799
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Bunny vs Monkey: The Great Big Glitch (a Phoenix Comic Book): the instant number one bestselling book from Jamie Smart, Illustrator of the Year
    When Bunny, Monkey and friends discover a glitch in reality, life gets even crazier than normal: Bunny declares himself The Woods' Magical Protector, Pig becomes a superspy, plus there's complete metal Monkey mayhem! Experience the laughs and chaos in Bunny vs Monkey: The Great Big Glitch (a Phoenix Comic Book), the instant number one bestselling book from Jamie Smart, Illustrator...
    By Jamie Smart
    Paperback
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • On Sale
    29% off
    The Summer I Turned Pretty
    The Summer I Turned Pretty is now a major new TV series on Amazon Prime! If you loved The Kissing Booth and Jenny Han's smash-hit Netflix movie series To All the Boys I Loved Before, then you'll adore this gorgeously funny, romantic story! Everything that happened this past summer, and every summer before it, has all led up to this....
    By Jenny Han
    Paperback
    $1700
    Usually:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 200,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.