Tuck Everlasting Paperback – Illustrated, January 20, 2015

Winnie Foster is tired of being cooped up and pampered. She is the only child of the Fosters who live in the "touch me not" cottage at the edge of the small woods. At ten, Winnie wants to see the world. Winnie promises the toad sitting by her gate that tomorrow she will run away to the woods. The next day, Winnie makes good on her promise. As she traverses the small wood, she wonders why she has never bothered to explore them before. Suddenly, a small movement catches her eye. Winnie peers around a large tree and sees a handsome teenager drinking from a small spring. Winnie decides she wants a drink, but Jessie Tuck insists she not drink from that spring. Suddenly, Winnie is tossed on the back of a horse and kidnapped by the Tuck family. They have an unbelievable story to tell her about that small spring. Will Winne protect their secret?What I Loved:*Tuck Everlasting is the book that took hold of me and rooted in my soul when read it. I was ten years old when I first met Winnie and the Tucks. Over thirty years later, this small little book and its wonderful characters are still speaking to me. I adore this book! It is one that will always remain on my shelf. It is the book that stirred something inside of me and made me fall in love with gorgeous writing and simple story telling. This is a timeless book that should be read and loved by everyone.*The writing is absolutely lovely. It is filled with rich descriptions, beautiful metaphors and similes. It is the book that made me fall in love with gorgeous writing.*The characters are unforgettable. Just like Winnie, I quickly fell in love with the simplistic and kind Tucks. This wonderful little family who are either blessed or cursed to live forever got inside my head. At first, you think it would be wonderful to live forever, but when you hear the melancholy story of the Tucks, you pause and reconsider. There is something so endearing about the kind, sad Angus Tuck. Mae is sweet and motherly, the salt of the earth. Miles with his heartbreak makes me sad, and I truly hope that he finds a way to do something great. Jesse is the boy who stole my heart. I fell in love with this fun,spirited boy. Winnie at ten, is a girl who is wise beyond her years, and I admired her courage. I could go on and on, but I won't. Just read the book.*The story is simple and yet complex. Beautiful story telling that makes you think and ponder. I am still mulling over the book after all these years. I catch myself often during that first week of August wondering about the Tucks. It is the type of story that gets into your head, your heart and burrows into your soul and it never lets go. In my heart, I hope the Tucks are out there and that they have found their peace.And The Not So Much:*My only complaint is that the book is sweet and short and I crave more. I want to know what happened to Winnie after the fall out. How did her life turn out? Did she ever try to find the Tucks? Why did she make the decision she did regarding the water? I wish that there had been more on her.*I also was sad that in the final pages that there wasn't any mention of Miles and Jesse. How had they fared over all those years? What were they doing?Tuck Everlasting is the book from my childhood that still speaks to me all these years later. It is a magical, beautiful and haunting story about a girl who encounters a family with a big secret, a family either blessed or cursed with immortality. Leaving you to wonder what would you do if you could live forever? I urge you if you have not read this lovely little book to pick it up and do so. I have it forever on my shelf and I look forward to the day that I can read it to my children.I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

Tuck Everlasting is the fifth book that my daughter and I have read this summer. It is a winning and thoroughly engaging story that has left both of us talking and thinking.The main thought of the book is, "would you want to live forever?" Good question! We follow the main character, Winnie, as she tackles this complicated decision.At the beginning of the story Winnie is a very sheltered and safe little girl (10 years old). She plays in her carefully groomed front yard, watching things around her (including a thirsty toad). Her world is safe, slow, and somnolent - seemingly napping in the hot, dry sun.The catalyst for change occurs when a man in a yellow suit (no, not hat, you Curious George fans). He is asking questions and seems unduly curious when they (the man and Winnie) hear a strange, almost elfin tune. The man is excited. The girl (Winnie)is motivated to make a surge forward. She runs into the forest where she discovers a young man (Jesse Tuck) drinking from a fountain hidden under stones at the base of a tree. I know, it sounds like a fairy tale. The story does come across as magical. The question is do you believe? Does Winnie believe?Winnie is taken (kidnapped) back to the Tuck home. The house is hidden deep in the country, secluded and existing in a time of its own. The Tucks move Winnie from her safe life to a different world. Their home is messy and disorganized in contrast to her own neat home. The Tucks are delighted to meet her and treat her like a treasured family member. This also is in contrast to her own more reserved family.Throughout her time at the Tucks they tell Winnie their story. Does she believe they will live forever? Will she keep their secret? Does Winnie want eternal life?Different family members present different perspectives to Winnie. Jesse (stuck at about 17) is full of life and is excited by all the world has to offer. The patriarch of the family (simply called Tuck) takes her out to the lake to explain his viewpoint. He points out to Winnie the way the tides of the pond move, all the bugs, and birds, and etc. He explains how everything is born, grows, is in a constant state of flux, and then dies. His family has stopped changing, maturing, growing.The man in the yellow suit eventually finds Winnie and the Tucks. His plan is to sell the water to "worthy" customers who can afford his hefty price. The matriarch of the family (Mae) kills the man She cannot allow the secret (to her the disaster, the epidemic) to spread to an unsuspecting public. My daughter reminds me too of what a burden this would be to the earth if no one ever died.Mae is faced with hanging - something which would surely lead to the exposure of her secret. Winnie helps Mae escape. This is a huge departure for her. It is definitely not something she would have done before the Tucks. She is part of their world,their family now. They love each other. The act is not a legal thing to do but is it a moral thing to do? The Tucks have changed her and Winnie is willing, indeed eager, to help. The consequences are grave. Her family is shamed in front of the whole town. When questioned Winnie can only answer that she did it for love. This her mom understands. Her family forms a fortress around her then, protecting her. Winnie comes to recognize their love for her as well.Before Jesse leaves Winnie for the last time, he gives her a vial of the Spring water. He asks her to think about drinking it when she turns 17 so they can explore all of eternity together. Will she or won't she?The final scene is of Tuck and Mae arriving back in the main town many years later. Everything has changed. The reader has the sense that the Tucks are getting more and more stretched - like Bilbo in LOTR. Their anchor to life is back 100 years. The longer their bodies live, the less they themselves seem to be part of the living world. The reader eventually finds out if Winnie drank the water or not. The answer makes the Tucks both sad and happy. The answer also leaves the reader questioning her decision and pondering their own reactions. Overall, a very satisfying book.

My daughter loved this book and I understand this may not be the genre of books some may like, but its story is wonderful and intriguing till the very end. The characters are also great!