Tuck Everlasting

Natalie Babbitt

Sept 2010 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

About this eBook

The beloved children’s classic with more than more than 10 million copies sold.

From Newbery Honor and E. B. White Award–winning author Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting is a spellbinding modern-day masterpiece about immortality, friendship, and growing up that’s sure to become an all-time favorite for every generation.

Is eternal life a blessing or a curse? That is what young Winnie Foster must decide when she discovers a spring on her family’s property whose waters grant immortality. Members of the Tuck family, having drunk from the spring, tell Winnie of their experiences watching life go by and never growing older. But then Winnie must decide whether or not to keep the Tucks’ secret—and whether or not to join them on their never-ending journey.

A staple on home bookshelves and in classrooms and libraries, Tuck Everlasting is a timeless story that has captivated readers of all ages for almost half a century.

Praise for Tuck Everlasting:

“Probably the best work of our best children's novelist.” —Harper's

“Exciting and excellently written.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A fearsome and beautifully written book that can't be put down or forgotten.” —The New Yorker

Ratings and reviews

I like the main plot, but the ending was too sad. Winnie should have chosen immortality instead of death, to be with the Tuck family. That would have been a happier and more enjoyable ending. This book is kind of like the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I couldn't sleep after seeing the movie (yes, I know this review is about the book, but I watched the movie). I would have loved to see a movie like this with a happier ending. (in other words, I much enjoyed the twilight and new moon movies)

When Winnie promises a toad that she would come out of her iron fenced yard she knew she had to keep her promise. Winefred Foster lived in the first cottage of the village. Her parents were very protective. The Foster line owned the wood in the village for centuries. When she realized she has never been outside of her yard without her parents or grandmother she knew she had to accomplish it. Even if it was a risk for her parents might wake up. She woke up before anyone else and opened the gate when she saw a boy leaning against a tree in her wood. She didn't know what else to do but stare. Finally, he saw her and she sat down next to him. When he refuses to let her drink the water from her wood she becomes furious. Suddenly, a woman and a man take her into the forrest with the boy, Jesse on a horse. The Tucks take her and when they stop to rest they tell her a fantasy she doesn't believe. They tell her about a spring in her wood that makes you live forever. A stranger that saw her being taken away and followed her and when they reached their destination he took the horse and went to the Fosters. He makes a trade with the Fosters, the girl for the wood. Once the Fosters agreed he left to go to the Tucks accompanied by the constable. When the stranger went to take Winnie back they figure out he knows about the spring. When he drags her across she realizes she has developed feelings for them, she loves them. She was forced against her will. The stranger pulled her across the grass. The woman pulls out a shot gun and shoots the stranger. The constable will hang her if he dies. Will she be hung, revealing to everyone about the spring, or will bravery and courage from others set her free? The book was descriptive. The detailed words made it feel like you you were in the book. For example, “ It wandered along in curves and easy angles, swayed off and up in a pleasant tangent to the top of a small hill. Ambled down again between fringes of bee hung clover and then cut sideways across a meadow”. The main character had an amazing personality. Winnie was brave and kind. “I can help! When your mother climbs our window, I'll climb in and take her place.” It is clear to understand. It tells you everything that happens without leaving out anything. “Life. Moving, growing, changing, never the same two minutes together”. It has a mysterious setting. The setting was in the woods. In example, “But for the most part the people followed the road around the wood because that was the way it led. There was no road through the wood. And anyway, for the people, there was another reason to leave the wood to itself: it belonged to the Fosters, the owners of the touch-me-not cottage,and was therefore private property in spite of the fact that it lay outside the fence and was perfectly accessible. The characters are interesting. The tuck family is couragous, noble, and sensitive. “ It pains me to think how your ma and pa will worry , but there's just no way around it. The ending is sad. The Tucks leave her. For example: The Tucks – her darling Tucks were gone. The sentences are long. They're almost run on sentences. For example: It wandered along in curves and easy angles, and swayed off and up in a pleasant tangent to the top of a small hill, ambled down again between fringes of bee-hung clover,and then cut sideways across a meadow. Overall, I thought “Tuck Everlasting” was an amazing book for all ages. I highly recommend this for girls. An outstanding story about a spring that makes you live forever can be grasped so easily. If you want to read a book about a girl that finds true magic in an ordinary world, I highly recommend this to you. Emma

Short yet a good read! Tuck Everlasting brings on an interesting perspective of ones perspective of life. Winnie Foster one day goes through the forrest and finds a boy named Jesse who is drinking the spring water. She is kidnapped by his familly and has the best time she's ever had but time is running out, what will she do live or die?

About the author

Artist and writer Natalie Babbitt (1932–2016) is the award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting and many other brilliantly original books for young people. As the mother of three small children, she began her career in 1966 by illustrating The Forty-Ninth Magician, written by her husband, Samuel Babbitt. She soon tried her own hand at writing, publishing two picture books in verse. Her first novel, The Search for Delicious, was published in 1969 and established her reputation for creating magical tales with profound meaning. Kneeknock Rise earned Babbitt a Newbery Honor in 1971, and she went on to write—and often illustrate—many more picture books, story collections, and novels. She also illustrated the five volumes in the Small Poems series by Valerie Worth. In 2002, Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a major motion picture, and in 2016 a musical version premiered on Broadway. Born and raised in Ohio, Natalie Babbitt lived her adult life in the Northeast.