50 Fun Facts About Tuck Everlasting

Who wrote Tuck Everlasting?

She had already won a Newbery Honor for Knee-Knock Rise in 1971.

In what year was the novel published?

Farrar, Straus and Giroux published it; it has since sold over 5 million copies.

What is the central theme of the novel?

The Tucks cannot age or die after drinking from a spring, and the book asks whether that is a blessing.

What is the name of the village where Winnie Foster lives?

Her family is the oldest in town and owns the wood next to their house, though they never enter it.

How old is Winnie when the novel begins?

The 2002 film aged her up to fifteen and moved the story to 1914.

In what year does the main story of the novel take place?

The Tucks drank from the spring 87 years earlier; the epilogue jumps to 1950.

What sound draws Winnie and the stranger toward the wood?

Mae Tuck's music box tune is the clue the man in the yellow suit has been chasing since childhood.

What does Winnie see Jesse Tuck doing when she first meets him?

He stops her from drinking too, then panics when she mentions telling her father.

What age does Jesse first blurt out when Winnie asks how old he is?

He quickly corrects himself to seventeen, the age he has looked for decades.

How long ago did the Tucks drink from the spring, as of the novel's main story?

They were passing through the wood looking for land to farm.

How many years passed before the Tucks realized they were not aging?

Miles's wife left him in that time, taking their two children.

What is the name of the Tuck family patriarch?

He hates being immortal and dreams of growing old and going to heaven.

What is Mae Tuck's relationship to Jesse?

She and Miles seize Winnie on the road and carry her home, pleading with her not to be frightened.

At what age does Jesse want Winnie to drink the spring water?

Then, he says, they could stay the same age forever and marry.

What does the man in the yellow suit demand from the Fosters for returning Winnie?

He already owns the horse he stole from the Tucks; the wood gives him legal possession of the spring.

How did the man in the yellow suit first learn the music box tune?

Her friend had been Miles's wife, who fled a husband who had not aged in twenty years.

What does the man in the yellow suit plan to do with the spring water?

He wants to sell it to 'people who deserve it', and make it 'very, very expensive'.

What does Mae hit the man in the yellow suit with?

She grabs it by the barrel and swings just as the constable arrives; the blow proves fatal.

What sentence does Mae face for killing the man in the yellow suit?

The family realizes an execution would expose their secret when she fails to die.

How does Winnie help Mae escape from jail?

Miles pries out the window, and in the dark the constable mistakes Winnie for Mae until morning.

What does Winnie pour Jesse's bottle of spring water over?

She saves it from a dog; decades later Angus spots a toad on the road and muses that it must think it will live forever.

In the epilogue, what year do Mae and Angus return to the village?

They learn the wood burned after a lightning strike in 1947 and was bulldozed for a gas station.

What now stands on the site of the wood when the Tucks return?

Lightning struck and burned the wood in 1947, and the spring was lost with it.

How old was Winnie when she died, according to her gravestone in the novel?

She died in 1948, married and with grandchildren; the 2002 film's headstone instead says 100.

What trades is Miles Tuck trained in?

His wife believed he must have sold his soul to the devil to stay young after twenty years of marriage.

What are the names of Winnie's parents?

Her grandmother also lives with them at the edge of Treegap.

What did the novel win in 1976 as best book for young people?

It was also named an ALA Notable Book and received the Janusz Korczak Medal.

Where did the novel rank in School Library Journal's 2012 Top 100 Chapter Books?

A 2007 NEA poll also placed it among teachers' top 100 books for children.

Roughly how many copies has the novel sold?

It has been called a classic of modern children's literature.

Who plays Winnie in the 2002 film?

The Gilmore Girls star was joined by Jonathan Jackson as Jesse.

Who plays the Man in the Yellow Suit in the 2002 film?

Hurt played Angus, Garber played Winnie's father and Bairstow played Miles.

Which actress plays Mae Tuck in the 2002 film?

Amy Irving played Betsy Foster and Elisabeth Shue narrated.

Who directed the 2002 Disney film?

Jeffrey Lieber and James V. Hart wrote the screenplay; Buena Vista released it on October 11, 2002.

Who narrates the 2002 film?

Her voice frames a story moved from 1880 to 1914, with Winnie aged up to fifteen.

In what year is the 2002 film set?

Fifteen-year-old Winnie runs into the forest after being told she will be sent to boarding school.

How does the film's Man in the Yellow Suit prove Jesse cannot be hurt?

Jesse survives unharmed, and Mae then kills the man with the butt of a rifle.

How does Jesse return to town at the end of the film?

More than 85 years later he finds Winnie's headstone at the base of the great tree where the spring once stood.

In which state was the 2002 film shot?

Locations included Baltimore, Bel Air and Berlin.

The three future creators of which sitcom met while auditioning for the 2002 film?

Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Rob McElhenney all auditioned; none was cast.

How much did the 2002 film gross worldwide?

Roger Ebert gave it two stars, calling it 'too impressed with its own solemn insights'.

What Rotten Tomatoes score does the 2002 film hold?

The consensus calls it slow-moving but sensitive in exploring big issues.

In which city was the first, low-budget film version produced around 1980?

Frederick King Keller made it for $150,000 with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo; production stalled three times.

At which Broadway house did the musical open in April 2016?

It closed on May 29 after just 39 performances.

Who directed and choreographed the Broadway musical?

The Book of Mormon co-director staged it first at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in 2015.

Who wrote the music for the stage musical?

Nathan Tysen wrote the lyrics; Claudia Shear and Tim Federle wrote the book.

In which US state does the musical set the town?

The musical opens in 1808 with the thirsty Tucks finding the spring, then jumps 85 years ahead.

In the musical, how often do the Tuck brothers reunite with their parents?

They split up and roam to avoid being recognized while Angus and Mae keep the homestead.

Which Tony Award nomination did the Broadway musical receive?

Gregg Barnes was nominated for the 2015-2016 season.

Which Babbitt novel earned a Newbery Honor in 1971?

Goody Hall was an Edgar Award finalist, and The Eyes of the Amaryllis became a 1982 film.

In which Ohio city was the author born?

She studied at Smith College and died in Hamden, Connecticut, in 2016.