Book Review: Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt (1975)

The original cover of Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, 1975.

Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 young adult novel Tuck Everlasting is a fascinating look at life and death. It’s a book that I didn’t read growing up, but I must have heard the title, as it’s always stuck with me, for some reason. The fiftieth anniversary of the novel is coming up next year, and a new graphic novel adaptation is due out. When I found Tuck Everlasting in a Little Free Library recently, I took it as a sign that it was time to read it.  

Tuck Everlasting is the story of ten-year-old Winnie Foster, who lives in a small town called Treegap. Winnie’s parents and grandmother try their best to shelter her from the dangers of the outside world, and she spends most of her summer days within her fenced yard, longing to experience more of what’s on the other side.  

One day, Winnie wanders into the forest near her house. There she sees a handsome young man who is relaxing in the shade of a tree. He drinks from a small spring. Winnie starts talking to him and finds it curious that he does not want her to drink any water from the spring. When the young man’s mother and brother show up, they tell Winnie that they will have to take her with them.  

This strange family that has kidnapped Winnie are the Tucks, and it turns out that they drank water from this spring in the forest many years ago. Since that time, they have stopped aging and are immortal. They have tried to conceal the spring from anyone else, for fear that others would find it and exploit it.  

I won’t summarize the plot any further, for fear of spoiling this charming story. Tuck Everlasting brings up many philosophical questions: what would it mean to stop aging? What would it be like to be immortal? How would being immortal change the decisions that you made, and the way you lived?  

As a society and a culture, America tends to fear aging and death. Rather than face these parts of the life cycle head on, our culture just avoids them. I think one of the messages of Tuck Everlasting is to remind us to enjoy those special moments in life, as they are finite.