A Montgomery publisher’s upcoming edition of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” will be edited to avoid more than 200 uses of the n-word, a derogatory term for blacks that has made the books difficult to teach in grade schools, the publisher says.

Instead, NewSouth Books will release a combined edition of "Tom Sawyer" and "Huck Finn" that uses the word "slave" instead, says NewSouth publisher Suzanne La Rosa. In addition, the word "Injun" will become Indian, she says.

The new edition, edited by Twain scholar Alan Gribben of the Auburn University in Montgomery, is expected to be shipped to bookstores and schools in mid-February, La Rosa says.

“We were very aware that we were doing something that was potentially very provocative and controversial,” La Rosa says. “We were very persuaded by Dr. Gribben’s point of view of what he called the amount of ‘preemptive censorship’ going on at the school level. It pained him personally to see ... the way that Twain’s novels were being de-listed from curricula across the nation. It became difficult for teachers to engage in discussion about the text when the kids were so uncomfortable, particularly with the n-word.”

La Rosa says she doesn’t expect the NewSouth edition of Twain’s classics to replace others that are out there.

“There’s an abundance of other editions that are faithful to the original text,” she says. “This is simply an option for teachers who would prefer to offer something else to students who find it difficult.”