Tuck Everlasting

Is eternal life a blessing or a curse?

Artist and writer Natalie Babbitt (1932–2016) is the award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting and many other brilliantly original books for young people. As the mother of three small children, she began her career in 1966 by illustrating The Forty-Ninth Magician, written by her husband, Samuel Babbitt. She soon tried her own hand at writing, publishing two picture books in verse. Her first novel, TheSearch for Delicious, was published in 1969 and established her reputation for creating magical tales with profound meaning. Kneeknock Rise earned Babbitt a Newbery Honor in 1971, and she went on to write—and often illustrate—many more picture books, story collections,and novels. She also illustrated the five volumes in the Small Poems series by Valerie Worth. In 2002, Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a major motion picture, and in 2016 a musical version premiered on Broadway. Born and raised in Ohio, Natalie Babbitt lived her adult life in the Northeast.

Discussion Questions:
Note: Page numbers listed below refer to the trade paperback edition.
1. On page 39, Miles describes losing his family as they aged and he didn’t. Think about spending
the rest of eternity at your current age. Who would you lose? What would you gain? Would it be
worth it?
2. On page 64, Tuck tells Winnie, “You can’t have living without dying. So you can’t call it living,
what we got. We just are, we just be, like rocks beside the road.” What do you think he means by
this?
3. On pages 99–100, the man in the yellow suit tells the Tucks, “Did you really believe you could
keep that water for yourselves? Your selfishness is really quite extraordinary, and worse than
that, you’re stupid.” Who is really selfish and unintelligent here, and why?
4. On page 119, Winnie thinks of the Tucks, “They were helpless. Or too trusting. Well, something
like that.” What do you think they are? If you knew you were going to live forever, how would
that change what you worried about and how you interacted with other people?
5. On page 126, a huge thunderstorm hits Treegap. Why do you think the author chose to have the
storm here? How is the weather related to the plot of the story?
6. Jesse and Miles feel quite differently about their immortality. How does each feel about it? Who
do you identify with more?
7. People sometimes think immortality is desirable. What are some reasons the Tucks would give to
argue against that?
8. It’s wrong to commit murder, but was Mae Tuck wrong to kill the man in the yellow suit? Why
or why not?
9. Winnie broke the law when she hid in in Mae’s cell to let her escape. Imagine you are Winnie’s
lawyer. What would you say to the court in her defense?
10. Compare the beginning and end of Tuck Everlasting, and discuss how Winnie’s character
changed.
11. Sometimes, people can be afraid of dying. After reading Tuck Everlasting, how have your
thoughts on death changed (if at all)?
12. Think about the title of this book. What does Tuck Everlasting mean to you? What might it mean
to Winnie?
13. Does this novel have a happy or sad ending? Why? If you could rewrite the final chapter, how
would the ending change?

“Rarely does one find a book with such prose. Flawless in both style and structure, it is rich in imagery and punctuated with light fillips of humor.” —The Horn Book Magazine“Beautiful and descriptive language is the strength of Babbitt’s fantasy about Winnie and her encounter with the Tuck family, who cause her–and readers–to ponder an important question: What would it be like to live forever?” —Booklist“Probably the best work of our best children’s novelist.” —Harper’s“A fearsome and beautifully written book that can’t be put down or forgotten.” —The New Yorker“Exciting and excellently written.” —The New York Times Book Review“Natalie Babbitt’s great skill is spinning fantasy with the lilt and sense of timeless wisdom of the old fairy tales. . . . It lingers on, haunting your waking hours, making you ponder.” —The Boston Globe“With its serious intentions and light touch the story is, like the Tucks, timeless.” —Chicago Sun-Times“This book is as shapely, crisp, sweet, and tangy as a summer-ripe pear.” —Entertainment Weekly