Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

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Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
(Audio)

I watched the movie years and years ago and found aspects of it confusing. So I was looking forward to finally earreading the book and clearing up my confusion. As it turns out, I don't remember the movie at all, apart from being confused by the way immortality was handled. So I ended up just enjoying the book for what it was.

When Winnie encounters a boy named Jessie drinking from a spring in the forest by her house, she ends up being kidnapped by him and his family and told the most unbelievable tale about how none of them ever grow older. She's not entirely sure she believes them, but what she finds is simplicity and warmth, friendliness and family. She finds a different way of life and people who are sweet and genuine--as maybe you can only be if you're immortal. She ends up helping them escape before their secret can be revealed--which is a big risk for someone who's just ten years old. She's given a choice to join them and never die or live her life normally. I've got to say, her choice shocked me. But it was also beautiful at the same time.

This story is told with a gorgeous narrative of beautiful descriptions and chosen words. I really got a sense of their part of the world, their time, and their characters. I couldn't help but love them and root for them, just the way Winnie does. And I loved Winnie, just the way the Tuck family does.

And I really liked the descriptions of immortality. So often I watch shows/movies where immortal characters get to see and experience so much of history. But the description here is of rocks by the side of a river where everything passes them by. There's more to life than aging or not aging, certainly, but the Tucks don't feel like regular people any more, they don't feel like they're part of the turning and moving parts of the world.

This book was short--I wanted much more than I got. But it was sweet and simple like the Tucks with just enough to make you think. I liked that.