Tuck Everlasting

1)  When Winnie goes fishing with Miles, she begs him not to kill the fish and requests that he release the animal back into the water.  Later, she pours water on the toad, making him immortal.  How do these incidents compare with her later decision to not drink from the spring and join Jesse?  Is she naive when she decides to save these creatures?  (mss)

2)  Mae suggests to Winnie that although Jesse is 104 years old, he is still “young” because his body has not developed past age seventeen.  In what ways is maturity related to age and/or experience in this novel.  Is childhood and youth romanticized in Tuck Everlasting? (mss)

3)  The Prologue to Tuck Everlasting reveals a great deal about the events that take place later in the novel:  “these are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after” (3).  Who is this sentence referring to? (mss)

4) The first few pages set up a metaphor that is sustained throughout the book. What is it, how does it work, and how does it return throughout the book? (ksc)

5) Do you think Winnie makes the right decision? Why? How does the author make her decision convincing to a child audience? What does the toad have to do with her decision? (ksc)