Apparently, a nook in a case can survive a fall from the top of a car,at 45 mph.
You see, I, in all my spazziness and brainlessness, spaced at a crucial moment when getting ready to take off to pick up my brother from school, and not only did I place my Nook on top of my car while I did the whole run-and-dive routine to close the garage(bad Coyote!), I completely forgot I hadn't tossed it into it's usual place on my passenger seat until I was already on the highway. By then, it was too late to turn back and go looking, so I frantically call my dad, who thankfully wasn't far from the house himself, and asked him to go looking(perhaps...demanded?)
Thankfully, he found it, and not only had it not been picked up and carried off (I've got my eyes on you, evil little middle school kids.), it hadn't yet been run over(apparently, it slid into a turn lane about a 1/2 mile from my house) and aside from a few scrapes and some torn fabric on the case, it it was perfectly fine. it turned on, there was no cracks on the screen, and now, when I take it out of the house, it goes inside my jacket.
So, when someone asks you if the nook is durable, tell them it can withstand being dropped from a car at 45mph
only, lets not recommend they try it, shall we?