I loved this. It never veered into cliché, although it could have. The ending rang true. The imagery was magical, just wonderful. ( )

Deep children's book. To be immortal, to not change, is to not live, to be like a rock by the side of the road. ( )

Winnie Foster, the ten-year-old protagonist of the story, contemplates eternity when she befriends the unique Tuck family. It's a short read, but Babbit sure packs a lot into it (mostly concerning one of Life's Big Questions: Would you want to live forever?). Beautifully written, with great fodder for future English majors (particularly the life-as-wheel motif).

And, despite all I've said about disliking audio books, this one was excellent. I got so into it that I took the CD inside with me when I got home so I could keep listening, even though I specifically got the audio book to keep me entertained during my commute. ( )

I had to read this book way back in the 6th grade or so. I don't remember liking it or loving it; I don't usually enjoy forced reads. I remember feeling a little sad for the characters and really happy for the toad. I'm sure that it's a good read, perhaps I should pick it up again. ( )

This book was just okay. Classic books just aren't for me.
#2023audiobookchallenge #librarylovechallenge ( )

What if you could live forever?

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.

Month of January 2022: Young Reader’s Classics

READING LEVEL: 5.0 AR POINTS: 4.0
(Ages 10-14)
Originally published in 1975.

This is a quick little fantasy story about a family, the Tucks, who accidentally happen upon a spring of water in Treegap that gives everlasting life. Angus Tuck, Mae and their two teenage boys, Miles and Jesse, were trapped at the ages they were when they drank the water. The Tucks find that having this eternal youthful life is not as great as they at first thought it would be. It ended up leading to a very lonely life. They had already been stuck for 87 years and were forced to live nomadic lives because the people around them were aging and even dying, while they, themselves, maintained their youth. When others would begin to question them, thinking they were involved in some kind of witchcraft, then they knew it was time for the family to move on and start over.

Make no mistake about it, the author has a beautiful and unique way of writing. But, I thought for sure there was going to be some kind of little love interest in the story. Jesse Tuck was only 17 years old, and Winnie Foster, who discovered him in the Treegap woods near the spring, but had not drank from the spring, herself, was 11 years old. They felt a connection and developed a super short one day friendship and he asked her to consider taking a drink from the spring when she turns 17 so they could get married and stay the same age together forever. Well, that never happened.

Then there was this frog that kept showing up throughout the story, but nothing ever came of that either. What was the point of the frog’s appearances in the story? I kept waiting for something to happen. I found this story lacking with a lot of loose ends.

BOOK-TO-MOVIE

“Tuck Everlasting” (2002), starring
Alexis Bledel as Winnie Foster
Jonathan Jackson as Jesse Tuck
Ben Kingsley as The Man in the Yellow Suit
William Hurt as Angus Tuck
Sissy Spacek as Mae Tuck
Scott Bairstow as Miles Tuck ( )

Thought-provoking tale with not-so-subtle themes on the meaning of life and death, immortality, and even freedom. I’d include this on any recommended reading list for children and teens. Although listed as a children’s book, this is one many adults enjoy. Still, I found this cautionary tale to be too short and would have preferred more emotional writing, even when I was of the intended age. Of course, if everyone lived indefinitely it would spell disaster, but it’s easier to see how it would be worse for the people in the book, then perhaps for someone with greater aspirations in a more modern world. A bittersweet read that doesn’t pack such a punch when we’ve moved so far away from a time when horses are the only means of transport. I couldn’t help thinking of vampire stories where they’ve had to invest their money, return as a distant relative to claim their own fortunes. In another scenario, eternal life might not be a curse for some, especially if it was possible to end it at a time of one’s choosing. Therefore, the warning here holds true, but not entirely, though it leaves the question of what you would do when Winnie is confronted with the offer at the end of the book. ( )

Wonderful. Made me cry. This seems like a great book for helping kids feel a little easier about death, and how it's a part of life. Apart from that aspect, it is a great book simply for the beautiful story, no matter what age the reader. ( )

"Tuck Everlasting" tells the captivating tale of Winnie, a young girl who serendipitously encounters the extraordinary Tuck family, who inadvertently gained immortality by drinking from a mystical spring hidden in her family's woods. Fearful of their secret being exposed, the Tucks take Winnie to explain their situation. Meanwhile, a relentless man pursues the Tucks, lured by the idea of profiting from the magical water. I believe this book is best suited for students from 5th-8th grade. ( )

Originally read in 1988 or 89 perhaps. I recall that I tore through it on a school-night, so wrapped-up in the book as to be completely oblivious to anything and everything until I finished the last page. I was not a reader, so this was impressive.

Re-read in 2014 - still a pretty good little book. ( )

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. ( )

3,6 stars ( )

This story is about Winnie Foster and her meeting the Tuck family, which is a family who are unlike anyone our main character has ever met before. Their secret is that they can never die due to drinking from a magic fountain years ago. This novel talks about family, morality, and the opportunity of choice. It provides students the opportunity to wrestle with and understand some complex questions about life. ( )

This is a short, sweet fantasy about a family that drinks from a mysterious spring, thereby attaining an immortal and ageless life. They encounter a ten-year-old runaway and tell her their secret. A mysterious stranger threatens to exploit the spring to make a fortune. This book was published in 1975 and, somehow, I missed reading it before now. It is set in New Hampshire in the 1880s. Themes include the circle of life and making good decisions. It would be a good joint reading experience for parents to discuss with their children. ( )

Tuck Everlasting is one of those books everyone should read at a young age. After all, who hasn't ever thought at least once about how it would be to live eternally, to be free to do everything you want to, to embrace life in all its different facets? The way this short novel deals with eternal life - and raising the question about whether or not that can be considered a blessing or doom - makes it an important addition to the literary world.

Fast-paced and easy to read, this is a book to devour in the course of three or four short hours, and while not the most involving book which can be found out there, at least it is able to make you think about what it would be like to (have to) live like the Tuck family does: Wandering around eternally and restlessly, comdemned to live on this earth until its very end. The book itself introduces the character of Winnie Foster, an eleven-year-old girl who meets the Tuck family and soon learns of their unbelievable secret: that the four members of that family are immortal after they drank from a magic spring.

Natalie Babbitt's prose is strong and powerful, drawing a convincing picture of how life can possibly work without death. Yet the book in itself is not without flaws; she never allowed the characters to become realistic. For me, especially the Tuck family felt like a gathering of stereotypes, and the lack of dynamics between the family members itself didn't help matters. Yet the potential was exploited almost completely, additionally helped by some strong messages (the connection between life and death, the ideas of human greed and constant change, the contrast between morality and craving, and the values of love and humanity).

The only thing which constantly bothered me was the way the Tuck family behaved - at least except for Jesse, the youngest son. If you are condemned to live your life on this earth forever, why constantly complain about your situation rather than actually doing something purposeful with your immortality? But then, maybe that was yet another message Babbitt implied in her novel: that the good-hearted are almost never those who actually want to change something in this world, while those with immoral and evil-minded purposes long to rule the world. ( )

When I first read this, I was younger than ten years old. I remember because I thought Natalie Babbitt was Natalie Imbruglia, and thought how cool she must have been to write both this book and the hit song "Torn" that was on the radio all the time. A gentle note to little kid me: they're not the same person, and this book came out twenty years before the song did. I didn't understand half the book when I read it the first time. I read it again when I was like...thirteen or something. I remember thinking it was amazing, and rolling my eyes at the movie adaptation trailer. While dramatic, I knew it would take serious padding to make into a movie. Now I've read it as an adult. The book jacket describes a suspenseful, plot-charged story, but the reality itself is a character study of utter slowness. It's supposed to be that way, in my mind: shows the reader just how boring immortality combined with invincibility would be. A lot of dark concepts are brought up in a book intended for children, but they're explored in ways that...I guess work. At the same time: hey Jesse. I get that you're starved for new company, but you just asked a ten-year-old to marry you. I don't care that it's the 1880s. That's creepy. And the kidnapping, and the--so many action-y parts of the book were actually unsettling, but couched in the slowness of the writing, I couldn't be scared. I feel kind of gross now. I think this is a specific kind of book for children, and I'm glad it's still around. I might get copies for my nieces, or tell them about it. ( )

So sad.
Gods do I love this book. ( )

Kindhearted ten-year-old Winnie Foster gets caught up with the Tuck family and their secret. Winnie can hardly believe their story, yet when it leads to tragedy, she comes to their aid in a surprising way. The story seems too dark for its intended audience since Winnie witnesses a murder and helps the murderer escape from jail. Yet is it any darker than the fairy tales I loved as a child? ( )

This is a children's fiction on how a little girl stumbled upon a family of four who are immortal. The family became immortal after drinking water from a magical fountain. Details of how the fountain works is of little importance in this story. The point the author is trying to make is how unhappy the family is with their immortality, and how death, though seemingly horrible, is actually the natural and desirable ending for all human beings. At the end of the story the girl, invited to receive immortality herself and marry one of the immortal family members, ignored the invitation and chose to live and die as a mortal instead. I wonder why she made this choice (the book doesn't say....). She seemed to really like the guy who proposed to her. Why leave him living forever all by himself then? I guess the author is trying to make her point that death is indeed a more desirable end. ( )

This book is my childhood (I literally love it so much, definitely a must-read before you die!) ( )

I got this book at a book sale after I saw a review about it on Youtube.
Winnie lives a fairly mundane existance until one day she stumbles upon Jesse Tuck & learns the family secret. The Tucks will never age or die due to drinking from a spring they've diligently kept a secret for over a century because they know what harm & chaos it would cause if the world came to know of it. But now they need to take serious measures to make sure it stays a secret.
This is a lovely little quick read full of whimsy & wonder. A great book for those days when you're just not feeling productive. This book will perk you up in no time!

This classic novel is about a young girl, Winnie Foster, who stumbles upon a family's stunning secret. After meeting the Tuck family, she learns of the spring's power to give people immortality, and must make a difficult choice. The reader is forced to consider one of the biggest of life's questions. ( )

Ive been having a lot of thoughts about this book, but not a lot of comments to share. I enjoyed it and am glad I read it now and as a kid since the two expiriences were fairly different, in particular my opinion of the choices that Winnie makes.

I will say Jesse Tucks asking Winnie to come back and drink from the spring when she is older is a lot weirder to read as an adult. I dont think its creepy really (and am sure the author didnt mean it to be) since his proposal is one of friendship made on account of she already knows their secret. But it is weird. ( )

A great novel to read and discuss in the classroom. Absolutely beautiful prose. ( )