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Tuck Everlasting
Unavailable
Tuck Everlasting
Unavailable
Tuck Everlasting
Audiobook3 hours

Tuck Everlasting

Written by Natalie Babbitt

Narrated by Peter Thomas

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles upon the Tuck family's disturbing secret, she is forced to come to terms with her conflicting emotions. She feels drawn to the loving, gentle and rather eccentric Tucks, but what they tell her is too incredible to be believed. Doomed to-or blessed with-eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family tries to make Winnie understand that the terrible magic of the forest spring can never be revealed. The consequences to the world could prove to be disastrous!

But then an unexpected complication arises when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to sell the spring water and make a fortune.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 23, 2007
ISBN9781400085750
Author

Natalie Babbitt

Artist and writer Natalie Babbitt (1932–2016) is the award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting and many other brilliantly original books for young people. As the mother of three small children, she began her career in 1966 by illustrating The Forty-Ninth Magician, written by her husband, Samuel Babbitt. She soon tried her own hand at writing, publishing two picture books in verse. Her first novel, The Search for Delicious, was published in 1969 and established her reputation for creating magical tales with profound meaning. Kneeknock Rise earned Babbitt a Newbery Honor in 1971, and she went on to write—and often illustrate—many more picture books, story collections, and novels. She also illustrated the five volumes in the Small Poems series by Valerie Worth. In 2002, Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a major motion picture, and in 2016 a musical version premiered on Broadway. Born and raised in Ohio, Natalie Babbitt lived her adult life in the Northeast.

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Reviews for Tuck Everlasting

Rating: 3.9696558871279475 out of 5 stars
4/5

2,587 ratings201 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was ok, I have been pretending that I was going to read this book for years so I figured this would be a good time. I liked it enough to finish it, but I don't know if I'd recomend it to anyone. A nice idea though.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've seen the movie that came out a few years ago, and I thought I'd read the book as a child, but I was imagining a totally different ending. Regardless, I absolutely loved this book. The writing was so beautiful - I re-read the first page several times over because the sentences were perfection. The idea is also really unique - a family drinks from an innocent-looking spring only to find the water basically froze them in time. They never age, and nothing can kill them - which is both a blessing and a curse. When Winnie stumbles across the family, she's swept in by them and their magical lives. Really makes you ponder if you'd drink from that spring or not.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Heartwarming and depressing all at once.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tuck Everlasting is about a girl named Winnie who meets the Tuck family who are immortal. Winnie learns the perks and downsides of being immortal and about family and love. This is a good fantasy because there is no spring that gives families eternal life.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the late 1800s, Mae Foster encounters the Tuck family. 80 years earlier, the whole family had drunk from a spring that now sat on her family's property. After drinking the water, they never aged again, and could no be killed. Mae must decide whether it would be better to drink from the spring and live forever, or live her life as a normal mortal, and eventually die.Nicely written little book that asks the reader to consider the same hypothetical question.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A total masterpiece. This book made me think about the question of which every one of us wants to know the answer - is it that good to live forever? I love the way the writer insists on telling both the positive and negative sides of leaving forever and staying forever young.. I know I won't stop thinking about this book in a while.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well now I'm beginning to wonder what took me so long to read this book...... I read over dinner last night and I found it to be suspenseful, spooky, magical and heartwarming!

    Winnie lives at the edge of town w/ her parents in a very particular house that backs up onto the woods. Being a much prized & only child, Winnie has never been allowed far from her family.

    The woods is a magical place where very few people ever visit..... Except the Tucks, who visit every ten years or so. The Tucks are an odd family who are content with their life, although never seem to age......

    Then comes along the smarmy man in the yellow suit with bad intent in his heart......

    When Winnie, the Tucks, & the smarmy man meet up, well nothing good can happen.... or can it?

    What a delightful book, and first I wasn't liking the author's style of writing, but as my interest in the story grew, I was able to ignore the style and I became entranced with the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was about a young girl who was curious of the world outside her. Her parents have always been very strict, and she thought to run away so that she could get away from her strict home. She had ideas of what it was going to be like, but what actually happened was way beyond what she could have imagined. She put herself in a position to learn information she wasn't supposed to. She was gone for a few days, and her parents thought she had been kidnapped. The story goes on to solve everything.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The ending made me weep like a small child. This is the first book that ever made me cry like that. Amazing storytelling!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Exquisitely beautiful.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Truly a wonderful story. We fell in love with the Tucks just as Winnie did; the writing is truly superb and makes you wish she had written several epic adult novels.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The ending made me weep like a small child. This is the first book that ever made me cry like that. Amazing storytelling!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really only finished this book because there are so many allusions to it in other books. I tried to read the book, but I found it to be very dry and boring. Instead, I opted into listening to the audiobook version in the car. This story had moving messages about the value of life and the purpose of death, but I personally did not love the message for children. I love the idea of teaching children to value life, but I feel that that should be done by teaching children to love life for the beauty within it, not for fear of death. Also, there were very many stereotypical and troublesome gender roles. I did love that the female, child lead character saved the day.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Interesting setup, but a bit moralistic in its message.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Winnie Foster is always locked up in her house. One day, she runs away and sees a tree which springs water. A young man, Jesse Tuck, is drinking from it. Winnie leans to drink, however he stops her. Jesse's brother and mother appear, and take Winnie with them. They tell her their biggest secret: the spring has the ability to give eternal life. Subsequently, Winnie learns about the circle of life, friendship and love. She falls in love with Jesse.

    On the other side, a man in a yellow suit has been investigating them and wanted the spring so badly. He takes Winnie as a hostage so they can show him the spring. The mother of Jesse hit his head and he died. She is sent to gallows and escapes it thereafter. The Tucks bid farewell. Jesse left her a bottle of spring water to drink, and promised that he will come back for her.

    The Tucks return to Treegap and discovered that Winnie had chosen life with death rather than life eternal as they found her headstone. The woods have been demolished and new buildings and roads have been built. They feel terribly sad and continue to travel.

    I hate how this is being compared to Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.
    Winnie choose to be mortal whilst Bella choose to be immortal.
    C'mon, a girl is smarter than a grown up woman. If someone would defend Bella for being in love, I will tell you that Winnie was also in love. She, however, choose to be mortal and live life as how it should be. If some may say that she is young and not in love, then I would ask how do you know if she is not? And if she was not in love, she still made the best decision. Why does a girl needs a guy to have a happy ending? The main point here is that you don't have to live forever, you just have to live.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very beautiful, thoughtful and touching story of a 10 year old girl who befriends a family who can never grow old, and who must make the choice to either be like them or to be mortal.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's 1880 and ten-year-old Winnie is considering the merits of running away from home. She stumbles across Jessie, who looks about seventeen, and has just drunk from a spring in the woods next to Winnie's home. Parched, she wants a drink too, but her request is met with horror. She is halfheartedly kidnapped, by the Tuck family, Mae, Tuck, Miles and Jesse, who wander about living as inconsiciously as possible. They all drank from the same magic spring eightly odd years ago and are permanently stuck at the same age they were back then. Learning the truth of their existance, Winnie finds it hard to comprehend that they cannot die, even when they make a serious attempt to. The Tucks try to explain how how living forever is most definately not a blessing but a curse that has robbed them of their family, friends, freedom and the cycle of life. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune, a idea which is met with dismay by the Tuck's. A beautifully written book with wonderfully artistic text. We find out in the last pages whether Winnie chose to join the Tucks in everlasting life, or to be happy with the course of her own existance. Very sweet.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved it. Thought provoking! Very well written descriptive prose.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this very nice book . I thought it was nice. The reson why I rated this book is because I loved it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I am very on the fence about this - creative fantasy, but the story could have gone so many different ways that might have been fuller.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read this in college and shared it w/friends and 6th graders. It's my absolute favorite children's novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A rare instance in which I've seen the movie prior to reading the book. Big differences in this one, but I did enjoy both movie and book. The story is such an interesting one, and riddled with lessons and questions Winnie must ask herself. And questions the reader ends up considering as well. It's very short though, I'd love to read more of what happens to Winnie after the Tucks leave and before they come back.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A lyrical, sad story.This Special 25th Anniversary Edition includes an interview by Betsy Hearne with the author. What I remember most from it is: "He wears a yellow suit because I needed a two-syllable color and nobody wears purple. And the reason why he needs a two-syllable color is because I use that phrase over and over again---'the man in the yellow suit"---and it has to have a certain kind of music to it." (p. 146)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not my thing. A girl stumbles across a family of 4 made unageing and immortal by a spring on her family's land. A bad man tries to take advantage of the situation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Kindhearted ten-year-old Winnie Foster gets caught up with the Tuck family and their secret. Winnie can hardly believe their story, yet when it leads to tragedy, she comes to their aid in a surprising way. The story seems too dark for its intended audience since Winnie witnesses a murder and helps the murderer escape from jail. Yet is it any darker than the fairy tales I loved as a child?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Easy quick read. Nice innocent story. Until all the DEATH! For a story about an immortal family it defiantly takes a turn near the end. Jeeze.

    I like the toad. He's pretty cool.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read again after a couple decades, for GR's GMGR group. Wow. Worth a reread for sure. The themes are wonderful, of course, but the writing is even more lovely than I realized.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    While I found it an interesting read, it lacked a depth in the characters that I had so hoped for. I think it would be a good read for upper elementary or middle school.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book felt pretty trivial and predictable to me. Nonetheless, it was well written, and the weather was very well described. Much more suitable for kids than for adults, as it is predictable and doesn't explore its premise very well.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am a romantic, admittedly and so I love this book. It offers students a lesson in love and in death, things that sometimes go together. It's rare when a book touches students on so many different levels but this one does and it is a captivating read.