Tuck Everlasting - Book Review

My friend chose Tuck Everlasting  by Natalie Babbitt for our book club read this month. Is it strange that I've never read the book or watched the movie before? I've seen it in the Scholastic book orders over the years and have always planned to buy it someday.

I read the first two chapters out loud to the kids while we were in the car. The other night when we were driving to Utah Dad's parents' house, I asked if they wanted me to read it out loud and they all emphatically said "no". So, I read it by myself this weekend.

I really enjoyed the story of Winnie Foster, an eleven-year old girl, who runs away into the woods near her home only to discover a handsome young man drinking from a hidden spring. Suddenly, she is a kidnap victim and the family that has taken her shares their curious secret--one of eternal life.

The story brings up several interesting points about life and living and I think it will be fun to discuss it with my book club. Here are just a few questions to think about: Would you want to live forever? If you had to live forever, which age would you want to be? (There is a part of me that would love to have my Molly drink from that spring. She's at the cutest stage right now and growing up much too quickly.) Did the Tucks take advantage of the gift/curse? Why didn't Miles give his wife water from the spring?

I watched the movie this morning (thanks to Netflix Streaming) and I appreciated several of the additions. In the movie, Winnie Foster is older and has a romance with Jesse Tuck. The love element adds a bit more suspense to the ultimate question of whether or not Winnie will choose eternal life and live forever with Jesse. The movie is much more dramatic than the book but also good and I think my kids will actually like it (well, Amberly will, at least).