139 pages Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (1975)
ISBN: 9780374378486
Reading Level/Lexile:
Genre: Fantasy, Coming Of Age, Immortality
Annotation/Teaser: Ten year old, Winnie makes a discovery in the woods near her house that could allow her to live forever. Will she make the decision to be immortal or will she choose a normal life?
Plot Summary: Winnie Foster is a bored and restless 10 year old. One day, she decides to slip away into the woods near her fenced off house and the nearby town of Treegap. In the woods, she finds a big surprise. She meets a boy, Jesse Tuck, who appears to be 17 years old but claims he is really 104. He is drinking from a special stream and when his mother and brother appear, they become scared. Because of their fear, they take Winnie back to their house to Angus Tuck, their husband and father. It is in their house that Winnie is introduced to immortality. This immortality that the Tuck family possesses comes from drinking the water from the special spring. After her initial fear wears off, Winnie comes to love the Tucks. Angus explains to her that she must never tell anyone of the magic spring. After a short time, a stranger shows up and threatens to take Winnie home. Mae Tuck, the mother, hits this stranger in the head with the end of a shotgun and kills him. The constable from the town of Treegap arrests Mae and takes Winnie back to Treegap. Because Mae is immortal, the family must rescue her or the world will know the secret. Jesse gives Winnie a vial of water and tells her to drink it when she turns 17 so that she can be with him forever. Winnie manages to sneak out of her house and meet the Tucks at the jail where they pull out the bars where Winnie takes Mae's place. The Tucks slip away to safety. But Winnie is faced with a decision. Will she drink the water or will she decide that the happiest life is a normal one?
About The Author: Natalie Babbit
"I was born and raised in Ohio. During my childhood, I spent most of my time drawing and reading fairy tales and myths. My mother, an amateur landscape and portrait painter, gave me art lessons. She always made sure I had enough paper, paint, pencils, and encouragement. I grew up wanting only to be an illustrator. I studied art at Laurel School in Cleveland and at Smith College.
Right after graduation, I married Samuel Fisher Babbitt, an academic administrator. I spent the next ten years in Connecticut, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., raising our children, Christopher, Tom, and Lucy.
My husband took time out from his academic career to write a novel and discovered that he didn't enjoy the long, lonely hours that writing demanded. My sister produced a comic novel, which required substantial rewriting. I learned three valuable things from observing my husband's and sister's forays into the writer's world: You have to give writing your full attention. You have to like the revision process. And you have to like to be alone. But it was years before I put any of this to good use.
In 1966, my husband and I collaborated on a children's book called The Forty-ninth Magician he wrote it and I illustrated it. With encouragement from our editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, I continued producing children's books even after my husband became too busy to write the stories.
I write for children because I am interested in fantasy and the possibilities for experience of all kinds before the time of compromise. I believe that children are far more perceptive and wise than American books give them credit for being."
Natalie Babbit Bio (n.d.) Retrieved from www.scholastic.com
Critical Evaluation: Tuck Everlasting is an example of how an author uses figurative language and makes it work. I did not think that this book was the best but the use of figurative language definitely made it more colorful and more interesting. There are so many great examples throughout this book, that I just had to choose a few that I thought really make this book more exciting. The first is a description of the month of August at the beginning of this book. "The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning." What a great description! Another example is when Babbitt is describing the mad constable. She writes, "At this the constable exploded." This is a hyberbole that makes a description much more vivid. One last example of the figurative language is in the description of hte music. "This time it tinkled its way faintly through the little melody three times before it faded." This is another vivid description that allows the reader to hear the music. I love Babbitt's creativity and eloquent descriptions. This makes the book so much more fascinating to me.
Curriculum Ties: English, Language Arts , Social Studies
Book Talk Ideas: What would you do if you could choose to live forever?
Will Winnie make the decision to stay forever young or live a normal life?
Controversial Issues: N/A
Defense: There are no apparent challenge issues in this book. If it were to be challenged I would do the following:
*I will keep
the library's selection policy on hand and memorized with a good
understanding of the standards and
policies to show that the selection meets the standards.
*I will keep
good and bad reviews (both electronic and print) and make sure they are from
reliable and respected sources such as School of Library Journal, Booklist, and
YALSA. I will have copies of these reviews to give away.
*I will confirm
the library's position to provide intellectual freedom as stated in the Library
Bill of Rights and keep a copy of this.
*I will keep
a written rationale to justify the reasons this material is included in the
collection, such as educational significance and curriculum ties.
*I will be
respectful and calm and practice "active listening".
*I will make
sure I read the material and are very familiar with it.
* I will keep a reconsideration form on file
in the event that my other strategies don't work.
Why I Chose This Book? While not as well known as some fantasy, this is a brilliant portrayal of a fairy tale/fantasy book because of the creative figurative language that the author uses. The concept of living forever appeals to most young adults and children and this book will challenge the reader to think about what it is like to live forever.
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