Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Reviewed by Ellen

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Violence: Mae Tuck hits a man in the head with the stock of her gun, who falls down unconscious and later dies from the injury.

Adult Themes: Mae is arrested for murder and taken to jail. Winnie sneaks out of her house at midnight and switches places with her in jail so she can escape; she is called an “accomplice” to the crime, but because she is a child is not held accountable.

Synopsis

Many years ago, the Tuck family accidentally stumbled upon a spring of water tucked away in the deep woods and drank from it, unaware that the mystical waters would grant them the gift of immortality.  Then one day, over eighty years later, young Winnie Foster stumbles upon one of the Tuck boys drinking from the spring while exploring the woods that belong to her family.  When she approaches to quench her thirst, Jesse stops her, but realizes that now he may have to tell her the secret that his family has lived with for so long.  After spending some time with the kindly Tuck family, Winnie learns that living forever might be both a blessing and a curse. Never to grow older, never to change while all the world around you continues on its foreordained path–is this really how life should be?  Winnie must answer this question for herself, and then decide if joining them and living forever is what her heart truly wishes.

This is the story of someone discovering the elusive Fountain of Youth, and learning its treasure isn’t as precious as legend makes it out to be.  An interesting premise told in beautiful prose. When the Tuck father explains to Winnie about living and dying, he says, “But dying’s part of the wheel, right there next to being born. You can’t pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that’s the blessing. But it’s passing us by, us Tucks. . . You can’t have living without dying.” Appropriate for young readers ages 9 and up.