Tuck Everlasting. Finished  10-12-13, rating 4/5, children’s fiction, 139 pages, pub. 1975

Doomed to – or blessed with – eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing that it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.  (from Goodreads)

I watched the movie when it came out in 2002, mainly because I’ve loved Jonathan Jackson since he first played Lucky on General Hospital.  Surprisingly, I don’t remember much about it except that I enjoyed it.  So, I when I read the book I knew about the magic spring but other than that my expectations were low.  I read it for the 24 hour read-a-thon because I had it on my shelf and it was short.  What a sweet treat it was.

I loved ten-year-old Winnie. She lived with her family at the edge of a woods and one day met Jesse who was there to meet up with his seemingly strange family who had literally discovered the fountain of youth.  Winnie, being a young girl sheltered from much doesn’t put up much of a fight when the Tuck family kidnaps her and takes her back to their home.  She falls  a little in love with Jesse and the rest of the family and they with her.

Such a sweet story that tackles some very big issues.  If you could live forever, would you?  What are the ramifications if this fountain of youth was found and exploited?  I’m thinking of a big drug company or even some part of the health care system that could sell immortality to the highest bidders.  How would you live your life if you knew there would always be tomorrows?  Such a weighty book for a slight children’s novel.  I was captivated by it.