Tuck Everlasting

by Natalie Babbitt

Rating: *****
Age: 10+
Type: Fantasy

One day at the height of summer, ten-year-old Winnie Foster ran away. Her parents never let her go past the huge iron gate separating her yard from the main street without them, and she felt trapped and upset. So she ran away to the woods behind her house which she owned. There she met a boy, Jesse Tuck, drinking from a spring. Winnie wanted to drink too, but Jesse wouldn't let her, for some reason. But after a talk with the other Tucks (Jesse's brother, Miles, mother, Mae, and father, Angus Tuck), she finds out why. Apparently if you drink from the spring, you'll stay exactly as you are forever. That's what happened to Jesse, Miles, Mae, Tuck, and their horse. However, Winnie can't tell anyone, because if she does, everyone will want to live forever, and that would be bad. It's magical for Winnie, and even if the Tucks take her to their house for the night, they're going to bring her home the next day. But there's a man in a yellow suit who wants to use the spring for his own sinister purposes... Can Winnie and the Tucks save their secret? When Mae hits the man in the head--hard--with a shotgun, rendering him unconscious, and is caught by the sheriff, it doesn't help matters. The Tucks are accused of kidnapping, and if the man in the yellow suit dies, which he might, then Mae gets the gallows. But Mae can't die, and if she's hanged everyone will know! Winnie must help the Tucks, before it's too late.
This book is really great. It has a lot of deep thoughts in it. It makes you think. It's interesting to see how Winnie changes from the start of the book to the end. She gets more thoughtful and mature. You also get to see the Tucks' different views on life and everlasting life. This book is also really sad. Natalie Babbitt makes you really like the characters and then at the end you feel sorry that they have to leave. This book is very emotionally touching, at least for me. Even though this is a book I had to read for school, it would be something I'd read again on my own time. I recommend it to everybody.
There is a movie version of this book, also titled Tuck Everlasting. It is NOT as good as the book. They changed a lot of things, and it's not as emotionally touching. My advice would be to read the book instead of seeing the movie, or read the book before seeing the movie. They basically changed it into an action-adventure movie.