Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Rating: 3.5

Another children's book where I saw the movie before reading the book. There were some changes that I was surprised by, biggest being Winnie's age. In the movie she is a teenager and in the book she is only ten years old. She escapes from her uptight family into the forest next to her house, where she meets the Tuck family. The Tucks have a secret that Winnie finds out about: they cannot die. She spends time with them and discusses the facts of life with them, debating whether or not she should join them in eternal life of the non-religious kind.

The book didn't strike my fancy. The story is well-written by Babbitt, but it just seemed kind of dull to me. I think I was expecting more action and intrigue instead of the straight-forward way in which the story and all the implications of not being able to die are told. I think this would be a good book to use with students in order to discuss death, because it brings up the good point that death is a natural part of life.