Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

I have heard many good things about this book, so just had to read it as one of my fantasy entries. Unfortunately, I wasn't that impressed. It was ok, but not anything I would rave about.

Tuck Everlasting is the story of a young girl who happens upon the Tucks in the wood. The Tucks unknowingly drank from a spring giving eternal life. They kidnap her and tell her about their fate. She comes to love them and must help them when events start spiralling out of control.

The first few chapters were difficult to get through. There is extensive description of the wood-- I was a bit bored. As I read on, I began to feel empathetic toward the characters. Through the dialogue between Winnie (the young girl) and each Tuck it became clear that they were unhappy, felt that they belonged nowhere, and had little hope.

The most interesting part of the book was that each 100+ year old Tuck was more child-like than Winnie in many ways. They seemed innocent and needy. Throughout her night with them, each one came to see her while she tried to sleep. Each family member asked her for assurance that she was ok despite the fact that she was trying to sleep. That reminded me of a child going to their parents bed and asking, "Are you awake? Are you awake?" until the parent wakes up. The family members were looking to Winnie for direction and validation-- she even viewed them as helpless.

Babbit explored what life would be like without death. To elucidate her thoughts, she used dialogue between Winnie and the Tucks. From the beginning, I knew that Babbit thought eternal life would be terrible. The Tucks took Winnie so that they could convince her not to drink from the spring. Each member of the family had a slightly different perspective about their plight. The father thought, "It's something you don't find out how you feel until afterwards." (p.119) The mother was saddened because they had to move so often and had no friends. The youngest Tuck was the only one who seemed to enjoy the life. He even tried to convince Winnie to drink from the spring when she turned 17. She was wise enough to understand that she didn't really want eternal life.