Marlin Middle School Library

Number the Stars

Annotation:
The Tuck family (parents and their two sons) in Tuck Everlasting accidentally discovered the ability to live forever. Each family member and their horse drank water from a spring within a tree in the woods. When the Tuck family finally realized that they were not aging, they concluded that the spring water provided eternal life. Winnie, the daughter of the owner of the woods noticed one of the sons, Jesse, drinking from the spring and desired to do the same. The family was forced to tell Winnie their secret about the spring water. A suspicious stranger overheard the story and planned to exploit the secret in order to get rich. Eventually, the Tucks convince Winnie to keep their secret, but she remains indecisive as to whether she will drink the water. A romantic connection develops between Winnie and Jesse, so Jesse suggests that she drink the water when she turns his age so that they can be together forever. In order to protect the secret, Mae accidentally kills the stranger, and Winnie serves as the hero in helping the Tucks escape. The story ends by informing the readers that Winnie chose to live a normal life and not drink the water.

Connections:
Movie Comparison
Enhance the enjoyment of this book by allowing the students to watch the Tuck Everlasting (2002) movie produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Set in the 1800s, this dreamy film follows a reclusive family (Sissy Spacek, William Hurt, Scott Bairstow and Jonathan Jackson) that possesses eternal youth thanks to a magic spring. When a teenage girl named Winnie (Alexis Bledel) gets lost in the woods and meets Jesse Tuck (Jackson) near the spring, she befriends the family and learns why they need to keep their lives a secret from the rest of the world. After the movie, conduct a class discussion over the differences between the book and the movie. For example, the book ends with the father of the Tuck family at Winnies grave, but the movie ends with Jesse at Winnies grave.
Group Prediction
The action in Tuck Everlasting spans over a period of one week, so intrigue the students to imagine what happened to the Tucks before the book began and after it ended. Divide the class into groups of three or four and assign each group a definite time before or after the plot of the book. Enlist half of the groups to write the story of the Tuck family previously to meeting Winnie and the other half of the groups to write about the encounters of the Tuck family after the novel ends. Assign each group a unique time span, in order to expand on the original story. An example of this collaborative group activity is as follows:
Group 1: five years before the Tucks meet Winnie
Group 2: ten years before the Tucks meet Winnie
Group 3: five years after the plot of the novel ends
Group 4: ten years after the plot of the novel ends
Journal Activity
In the story, Willie had a very hard decision as it is not easy to decide between life and death. Before reading the book, ask the students to respond to the following question in a pre-journal entry: Why or why not would you want to live forever? Take up the journal entry from each student and do not allow students to see their journal during the reading of the book. After reading the conclusion of the book, assign the class the same journal activity question. After students have finished their post-journal, return the original entry to each student. In a class discussion, ask students to converse the differences and analyze the alterations between their pre-journal and post-journal entries.

Tuck Everlasting

Annotation:
Number the Stars is set during the Holocaust when the Nazis are relocating all the Jews from Denmark. The story centers around two families that are neighbors and close friends. One of these families, the Rosens, is Jewish, so the other family, the Johansens, accepts the responsibility to protect them from the Nazis. The Johansens take in Ellen, the Rosens daughter, but the parents disappear into the unknown. Eventually, the family reunites, and a plan is formulated in order to transfer the Rosens and other families to Sweden where they would be safe. The Nazis knew that the Resistance members, those against the war, were helping the Jews get out of the country by boat and began using dogs to find the hidden people. A key element in the plan was left behind, so Annemarie, the Johansens daughter, runs to take a mysterious package to her uncle. In the package was a specially treated handkerchief that temporarily numbs the dogs senses so that they cannot smell the people hiding. Annemarie was able to deliver the package in time to prevent the families hiding on the boat from being discovered. The Rosens family arrived safely in Sweden to await the end of the war and their return home.

Connections:
Venn Diagram
Complement the book with the following 1998 movie: Miracle at Midnight. A valiant Danish doctor (Sam Waterston) and his family struggle against Nazi oppression and try to help their Jewish country men survive the Holocaust by escaping across the Baltic Sea to neutral Sweden. Co-starring Mia Farrow, this taut and suspenseful movie originally aired on television's "The Wonderful World of Disney." After the movie, have the students do a Venn diagram between the novel and the movie.
Fact vs. Fiction
Set during the Holocaust, Number the Stars is considered a historical fiction novel. After completing the book, teach or review students on the elements of fact and fiction. Before pairing students in the class, discuss one fact and one fiction element in the book. Provide students with the fact and fiction activity sheet that is available at the following: http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/ns_fact_fiction.pdf. Allow the pairs ample time to complete the activity, then discuss the results as a whole group.
Letter Project
Read the book around the established Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is May 2 of 2008. Annemarie and Ellen have such a close friendship that it is easy for them to act like sisters. It is certain that while they were apart, they missed each others companionship. Assign half the class the role Annemarie and each student should write a letter to Ellen in Sweden. Enlist the other half of the class to assume the role of Ellen, and write a letter from Sweden to Annemarie. Allow volunteers to read their letter aloud to the class.