Immortal Beloved

Tuck Everlasting
Natalie Babbitt
Square Fish

What would it be like to live forever?  Would it be a curse or a blessing?  This is just one of the questions posed by Babbitt's 1975 classic Tuck Everlasting. 

When the story opens we are introduced to Winnie Foster, an eleven-year only child growing up in the late 1800s in America.  It is the dog days of August and Winne is oppressed by both the languid heat and her over protective parents.  School is still weeks away, she is bored and she is considering running away.

One morning with adventure in mind, she wanders into the wood that is on her property and comes across a beautiful young man who is sitting by a large tree and quenching his thirst in a spring.  Long story short, the spring is essentially the fountain of youth and the young man, Jesse, and his family haven't aged since drinking from it over eighty years ago.  To protect the secret, Winnie gets kidnapped by Jesse and his family.  Eventually, Winne has a decision to make -- should she drink from the spring and live forever or should she continue to grow, become a young woman, have children and eventually die?  That's a lot of thinking for one so young.  I'll not tell you how the book ends.

Without a doubt, this is the best story that I have read all year and if I were in charge of such things, it would find its way into hands of every little girl in the country. Please please please read this.   Five hot summer days out of five.