Book Report: Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt is one of those little gem books that every pre-teen girl should have the pleasure of discovering. At the heart of this slim novel is Winnie Foster, a girl on the cusp of growing up, yearning for adventure and the chance to do something important. She's thrust into a mystery in the forest, a budding romance with a young man who will never truly grow up, and an exploration into the blessing and curse that is immortality. This would be pre-Twilight...no vampires, just characters who are sweet, and earnest, and true...

It was one thing to talk about being by yourself, doing important things, but quite another when the opportunity arose. The characters in the stories she read always seemed to go off without a thought or care, but in real life--well, the world was a dangerous place. People were always telling her so. And she would not be able to manage without protection. They were always telling her that, too. No one ever said precisely what it was that she would not be able to manage. But she did not need to ask. Her own imagination supplied the horrors.  --Natalie Babbitt

I only wish Tuck Everlasting were a bit longer. It ends with a flash-forward in time, and the characters are so engaging that I'd love to have been able to spend a bit more time with them. If you have a young lady in your life--daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, or sister--put this book in her hands. It's the perfect dreamy end of summer read.

If you're looking for more books like Tuck Everlasting, I'd recommend The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (by Avi), The Witch of Blackbird Pond (by Elizabeth George Speare), and A Wrinkle in Time (by Madeleine L'Engle).

P.S. Design Sponge featured Tuck Everlasting (the 2002 Disney movie) in an April installment of their "Living In" series. Very nice!

1. Girl in bed, via Spoetics; 2. Forest cottage, by Ionut Cirja on Flickr; 3. A path, via Looking for Rainbows in the Moonlight;  4. Corduroy coat, by This Ivy House; 5. Double bed, via The Poetry of Material Things; 6. Bryn Eglur cottage interior, via Ill Seen, Ill Said; 7. Hair ribbon, via Take a Leap of Faith; 8. Lace socks, via Au Lait; 9. Lola dress, by Whitney Deal;  10. Boy in boat, via Namaste; 11. Suspenders, via The Style Buff; 12. Antique music box, by Beastly Lettuce.