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Winifred Foster, better known as Winnie, lives in a white house with an iron fence encircling it. The iron fence may as well be a prison wall for Winnie since her parents and grandmother won't let her explore or have much contact with the outside world. Her only friend is a little toad that lives in and near her yard. Finally, she has had enough and "runs away" into the forest next to her house to think. While in the forest, Winnie comes across a strange teenager named Jesse Tuck drinking from a spring. Jesse makes it clear that Winnie shouldn't drink from the spring even though she is thirsty. When Winnie insists on getting a drink, Jesse and his brother Miles take her away to their parents: Angus Tuck, or just Tuck, and their mother Mae. At first, Winnie is of course frightened and scared since she is taken away from home, but when Tuck and Mae make her feel at home in their little cabin, Winnie warms to them especially Jesse. Then Jessie shares the Tucks' secret and the reason he and his brother brought her with them: he is really over 100 years old! Many, many years ago, while passing through the Foster's forest, the Tucks drank from a little spring in front of an old tree. The spring was magical -- anyone (or anything for that matter) who drinks from it will become immortal. Winnie is intrigued by the Tucks' story until she hears the downsides of living forever. Miles tells her how he lost his family because they thought he was evil since he never grew older. And Tuck (Angus) takes Winnie and explains to her that "But dying's part of the wheel, right there next to being born." Then trouble happens - believing her to be kidnapped, Winnie's parents enlist the help of the Man in the Yellow Suit to find her. In exchange, he gets their forest in which the spring is hidden. He goes to fetch Winnie from the Tucks. He knows about the spring and its magical powers. He wants to sell the water to make enormous amounts of money, but since he doesn't know exactly where it is, he uses Winnie as a hostage to force one of the Tucks to show him. But Mae comes to Winnie's rescue and hits the Man in the Yellow Suit in the head with a shotgun and kills him. When Mae hits him, she is in full view of the sheriff. Even though Winnie explains that she wasn't kidnapped and went of her own free will, the sheriff still believes that Mae is guilty of murder, so she must hang. Since Mae is immortal, the Tucks can't allow her to hang because then their secret would come out. Winnie comes to the rescue and with the aid of Jesse, Miles and Tuck, she rescues Mae. The Tucks have to escape immediately, but before they go, Jesse begs Winnie to drink from a little flask of the spring water when she gets older, and he promises that he will come back for her. But after thinking about what Angus told her, Winnie decides not to drink the water. Instead, she gives it to the toad. Years later, Jesse comes back and discovers her tombstone and realizes she chose a mortal life. Sad at the thought of her dying, Jesse leaves the town forever and almost runs over a toad - the same toad that Winnie gave the water to. I really enjoyed this book! It gives new insights into death and more importantly life in an interesting way. Even though it has magic in it, this story doesn't read like fairy tale and almost seems like a true story. Ms. Babbitt is a talented writer and this story is beautifully written. I really recommend this book!Read full review
I received the book in a reasonable amount of time with no damage. Looks brand new.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Wonderful story of love, loss, and the story of everlasting life and love. Wonderful read no matter what age you are.
childhood memories in school loved this book still do twenty years later. The movie is good but not as good as the book
Best book ever
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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