Tuck Everlasting

This isn't my first time meeting the Tuck family but when our local youth theatre announced Tuck Everlasting as the first musical of the season (that G wants to audition for) I decided I needed a refresher because I could not (and still cannot) comprehend how this book becomes a musical. The 2002 Disney movie was strange enough — with aging up the main character and changing it from an existential meditation on living forever and turning it into an obvious coming-of-age romance. Fortunately, the musical appears to keep Winnie as a tween.

This book is magical, a reflection on the magic of the world around us — what we see and what we don't see — asking the reader to really think about what living forever would do to a family when show more everyone else ages. Or what would happen if everyone had the same ability as the Tucks — how would it be abused? The man in the yellow suit is an excellent foil to the homey, pure Tuck family. It's a shame they had to kidnap Winnie and lead the greedy guy straight to their house. I do wish there'd been more time spent with Winnie after the Tucks leave — like 7 years later we meet a 17-year-old Winnie who thinks it must have all been a dream or maybe another book from the poor toad's point of view. How and why did the Fosters give up the wood by their home and what was Winnie's life like as an adult? I'm just left with wanting so much more. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a book from the toad's perspective, filling us in on the area as it changes: Winnie's teen years, the tree struck by lightning, what happened to the stream, Winnie's adult years, the destruction of the wood. show less

I listened to the audiobook, beautifully narrated by Alexis Bledel with an introduction by Gabrielle Zevin, and it was such a moving experience. Bledel’s gentle, expressive voice perfectly matches the poetic style of Natalie Babbitt’s writing and captures Winnie’s innocence and curiosity. The story of the Tuck family, forever changed by the magic spring, feels even more haunting and thought-provoking when told aloud. I loved how the narration highlighted both the adventure and the melancholy of immortality, prompting me to reflect on what it really means to live. Zevin’s introduction provides context and emphasizes why this novel continues to resonate. A timeless, heartfelt classic that works beautifully in audio, highly show more recommended for both young readers and adults. show less

First published a little more than forty years ago, Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting is a classic of modern children's literature, one which engrosses the reader wholly and (I suspect) haunts them long afterward. Opening in the first week of August - described in the opening passage as hanging "at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year" - it concerns the adventures of ten-year-old Winifred Foster, who meets the immortal Tuck family and, in an astonishing three days of knowing them, is awakened to complex questions about the nature of life and time, and the joy and grief of making choices. Having drunk from a spring which grants eternal life, the Tucks have been wandering for more than eighty years, returning every once show more in a while to the spring - now located in a wood belonging to Winnie's family - that began it all. Determined to protect the secret, the Tucks must take Winnie into their confidence when she discovers the spring, hoping to convince her that it would be a disaster if the world discovered its waters. But as these events unfold, a sinister man in a yellow suit is pursuing the Tucks, and their secret, determined to profit from the spring, and to enact his own vision of eternal life...

A book I have long meant to read - I've owned a copy for over a decade - Tuck Everlasting is a story that a wish I had read first as a child, not because I failed to appreciate it now, as an adult - indeed, it is the sort of book that rewards readers of all ages, simple enough for those looking for an engaging story, complex enough for those interested in more philosophical questions - but because I suspect it would have been a great favorite, read and reread many times over the years. I regret the missed opportunity of having grown up with this story, but then, as is amply demonstrated in Babbitt's narrative, all choices have consequences. The language here is beautiful, richly descriptive and immensely evocative, and the story thought-provoking. The idea of time as a wheel, something which 'book-ends' the story, is fascinating, as is the overall premise that everlasting life is not entirely a blessing. I was struck, upon finishing the story, by how different the perspective offered here is, compared to the ubiquitous vampire-romance novels that depict joining loved ones in eternal life as self-evidently desirable. This is just a lovely, lovely story, one I will be pondering for some time. I am glad to have finally read it - prompted by the fact that I will shortly be attending the musical production made from it, here in New York - and hope to read more of the author's work. show less

This is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. Short but very sweet. Packed full of lessons without feeling as if that is what you are reading for.

Living forever sounds great, doesn't it? In this beautifully prosaic book Ms. Babbitt explores, through story, the possibility that it might not be such a great thing.

Winnie Foster feels trapped by her overprotective mother. Her life is forever changed when she stumbles upon Jesse Tuck drinking water from a spring beneath a giant oak tree. Jesse prevents Winnie from drinking from the spring; he knows that the water is the key to eternal life on earth. Not knowing what to do next Jesse takes Winnie back to his family's cabin where she learns enough to determine for herself show more whether eternal life on earth might really not be the blessing most would think.

This book has been made into a film by Disney. I'll admit that I enjoyed the film although it was several years ago. I saw the film before having the chance to read the book. Of course, I am certain the book is better than the film. It is a rare film that ends up being better than the book from which it is derived.

Tuck Everlasting is the most beautifully written book I think I have ever read. Babbitt's words evoke stunning imagery not easily matched.

My favorite quote:

"Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live." show less

Wow, what a surprise! I read this book so that I could lead my daughter's 5th grade reading group and it ended up making my all-time favorites list (not an easy task!). A very well written and timeless story about the dilemma of being mortal vs. living forever...kind of like a vampire story without the violence and with very likable characters. For kids and adults...

Near perfect, as far as I'm concerned. Small in scope -- the bulk of the story occurs over a few days -- but intensely engaged with the themes of immortality, mortality, obsessions, and youth. I loved Tuck's the non-explanatory theory for the spring of immortality -- that it was a small piece of an alternate plan for the world that was abandoned and somehow overlooked. I loved how the child was the center of the story throughout but we still saw a bit inside the nature of every family member.

Highly recommended.

Highly praised, well-known, filmed twice (I believe), but I'd never come across it.

It's a tale for young readers about the perilous gift of an earthly, eternal life. If it was offered to you, should you take it? And would you?

The narrative has little by way of twist or turn, and being put before us with a gentle simplicity, also resolves simply, but the reader is drawn into the tale by its artful naivety. I liked it - perhaps not as much as other world favourite tales, but well enough to recommend it to you.

However, what remains with me is less the dilemma of the choice as the question of whether this secret of life is worth killing for, the culture shock when you encounter a family happier than your own, the morality of kidnapping and show more absconding, the loneliness of longevity and the whimsey of the toad. For these extra byways, I'm glad I read it. show less