Tuck Everlasting
is a fantasy children's novel by Natalie Babbitt, published in 1975. The book explores the concept of immortality and the reasons why it might not be as beneficial as it appears.
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TUCK EVERLASTING TICKETS
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Plot
Winnifred "Winnie" Foster, fed up with her restrictive, high-class life, flees into a nearby forest where she meets the Tuck family. She finds that by drinking from a magic spring, the Tucks have gained eternal life. As she spends time with the Tucks, she learns that immortality has cursed them with stagnation and isolation. She is offered some of the spring's water by Jesse, the Tuck family's younger son, but eventually refuses and gives it to a toad. The epilogue reveals that she has grown old and died. Treegap is shown to be no longer a dense forest but a more modern society.
Awards
The novel was selected as an ALA Notable Book as well as being included on the Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List. It has received numerous awards since its publication including the Janusz Korczak Medal and the 1976 Christopher Award for Best Book for Young People. It was also included in Anita Silvey's book
The 100 Best Books For Children
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Adaptations
The novel has been adapted to film twice.
The first was released in 1981 and distributed by One Pass Media.
The second was by
Disney in 2002. It was directed by
Jay Russell and starred
Alexis Bledel as Winnie,
Jonathan Jackson as Jesse and
William Hurt and
Sissy Spacek as Mae and Angus Tuck. It has received mixed, but generally favorable reviews and currently holds a 61% rating at
Rotten Tomatoes. The
New York Post praised it as "handsomely crafted and well-acted".
[1] It grossed $19,161,999 at the domestic box office, but it did not receive a wide-release in foreign territories.
References
- New York Post film review