Tuck Everlasting

The other great American children's novel about mortality — White asks how we accept death; Babbitt asks whether we should want to avoid it

A society that has eliminated death and pain; Jonas faces the same question Winnie faces — is safety worth the loss of what makes life human

Part of the same 1970s revolution in children's literature that took death seriously — Paterson's treatment of sudden loss and Babbitt's treatment of immortality ask the same question from opposite sides

Same era, same willingness to ask children to think philosophically through narrative — Juster uses wordplay and Babbitt uses a fable, but both trust children with large questions

Contemporary with Tuck Everlasting in the American children's literature canon; both novels use a young girl protagonist to navigate questions about time, conformity, and what it means to be fully human