When K. Woodman-Maynard was first approached to adapt “Tuck Everlasting” into a graphic novel, she was interested — even if she couldn’t exactly remember all the details.
“I remembered it really resonated with me as a kid, but I also remember feeling really angry and betrayed by it,” the graphic novelist said in her home studio in Minneapolis.
Woodman-Maynard was first contacted by publisher Farrar Straus Giroux to work on an adaptation of Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 novel for its 50th anniversary.
To refresh her memory, she rushed to a bookstore and bought a copy.
“I was like, oh, I absolutely want to adapt this!” said Woodman-Maynard.
The artist is no stranger to adaptations of beloved American books — in 2021, she released her graphic novelization of “The Great Gatsby.”
Adapting “Tuck Everlasting” was a different process, however, since it is still under copyright. Because of this, Woodman-Maynard collaborated with the Babbitt estate.
“It was wonderful to work with them, to be honest,” Woodman-Mayanrd said. “Lucy Babbitt, the daughter of Natalie Babbitt, was quite involved, and my conversations with her really influenced a lot of things about the book.”
“Tuck Everlasting” is set in the late 1800s and follows 10-year-old Winnie Foster after she discovers a wellspring that grants eternal life.
She also stumbles upon the family that unwittingly drank from it, and must decide whether to expose the Tuck family’s mystical secret or keep it.
“And at the same time, there's an evil man, the man in the yellow suit, who is after the spring,” Woodman-Maynard said.
The graphic novel version of “Tuck Everlasting” evokes the book’s summer setting with vibrant yellows and oranges, which are then contrasted by the dark blues and grays used both for nighttime and a massive storm that is the backdrop for the novel’s pivotal moment.
“A gold color was really important for me to establish. And that's actually glazed — like a very light layer under almost every page,” Woodman-Maynard explained. “I also wanted to modernize the palette a little bit. It does take place in the 1890s, so it was important for me that this felt a little fresh.”
“Tuck Everlasting” has been adapted into different media before, including a Broadway musical that opened in 2016 and a 2002 film that leaned heavily into a young adult romance.
When Woodman-Maynard set out to adapt it into a graphic novel, the loneliness that Winnie Foster experiences in the book stuck out, especially as it relates to the Tuck Family’s own isolation to keep their immortality a secret.
“I so value connection with people, and to have that huge secret, to me, just seems horrible,” Woodman-Maynard said, adding that the book's themes of mortality have helped with her own views on death.
“[The Tucks] wish they could grow and change … I think Angus Tuck — the father — talks about that he wishes he could die because it gives them meaning,” Maynard-Woodman said.
“I’ve just been reflecting a lot on that.”
The graphic novel adaptation of “Tuck Everlasting” is available Sept. 2.
