A girl discovers a family who drank from a spring that made them live forever, and must decide whether to drink too
Would you want to live forever?
Ten-year-old Winnie Foster lives in a fenced-in house near the village of Treegap and longs for adventure. One summer morning she wanders into the woods and sees a young man drinking from a hidden spring. He is Jesse Tuck, and his family has a secret: years ago they drank from the spring and stopped aging, unable to grow old or die. Soon Winnie must decide whether she would want the same.
Who will enjoy it
Readers aged about nine to thirteen and adults who enjoy short, thoughtful stories about big questions of life and growing up.
What you will get
A short, beautifully written classic that asks whether living forever would be a blessing or a curse, gently helping readers think about life, change and growing up.
Tuck Everlasting Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Immortality · Family · Coming of age
Length
139 pages · ≈ 4 h
More about this book
The story takes place in the first week of August, long ago. When Winnie meets Jesse, who looks seventeen, the rest of the Tucks quickly arrive and take her away to their home, not to harm her but to explain why the spring must remain secret. Mae Tuck is warm and motherly, her son Miles carries a deep sadness, and Angus Tuck, the father, takes Winnie rowing on a pond and explains the natural cycle of life and why living forever, outside that cycle, is not as wonderful as it seems.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man in a yellow suit has followed them. He has spent years searching for the spring and wants to sell its water. His plan leads to a sudden crisis, and Mae is jailed and faces a terrible penalty if the truth about her is revealed. Winnie must decide how far she will go to help her new friends, and she has to consider Jesse's suggestion that she drink from the spring when she turns seventeen. Babbitt's prose is lyrical and precise, and the book's quiet ending stays with readers for a long time.
Short and thought-provoking, ideal for reading and discussing together. About 139 pages in paperback.
Bridge to Terabithia
The Giver
Charlotte’s Web
Ella Enchanted
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Esperanza Rising
Walk Two Moons
The Giving Tree
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
The Little Prince
Out of the Dust