Bridge to Terabithia

Title: Bridge to Terabithia
Author: Katherine Paterson
ISBN: 0064401847


Plot Summary: Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr. is the lone boy in a family of girls, growing up in a small, rural Virginia community where change happens more slowly than elsewhere. Into this drab and predictable world comes Leslie Burke, a girl who doesn't dress, eat, walk, talk, act, or think like any of the others Jess knows. Intrigued by Leslie's free-spirited and nonconformist attitude, the two quickly become friends, ignoring the teasing of Jess's sisters and peers as they retreat together into Terabithia, a magical world of their own creation. But when tragedy strikes, shattering the mythical land they have created together, Jess must draw on the strength that knowing Leslie has given him in order to carry on.


Critical Evaluation: Although this book deals with preteen protagonists, it presents a remarkably sensitive and sophisticated view of the issues they face, as well as providing a deep and meaningful exploration of the fantasy lives they are capable of creating. Paterson deals with such issues as bullying, societal norms, child abuse, and even death with care and honesty, giving details because they are necessary and not merely interesting or sensationalistic. In so doing, she paints a vivid picture of the worlds Jess and Leslie inhabit, both real and imaginary.


Reader's Annotation: Jess Aarons is a small fish in an even smaller pond - until Leslie, a girl unlike any other he has met, strikes up a one-of-a-kind friendship with him that encompasses both real and imaginary worlds. When tragedy intervenes in their friendship, how will Jess find a way to cope?

About the Author: Katherine Paterson was born in Jiangsu, China in 1932 to missionary parents, and lived there until 1937, when the Japanese invasion of China forced the family to emigrate, first to Virginia and then, after a brief return to China, to North Carolina. She graduated with highest honors from King College in Tennessee with an English degree, subsequently earning two master's degrees, in Bible and Christian Education and Religious Education, respectively. She lived in Japan for four years doing missionary work. Upon her return to the United States, she met and married the Reverend John Paterson, with whom she had four children, two of whom were adopted. She has written numerous novels for young adults, and currently lives in Vermont with her husband.

Genre: Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Creative Writing

Booktalking Ideas:

Hook: Janice Avery, bully and victim
Approach: Character-based
Ideas for Booktalk: Janice steals May Belle's Twinkies; she and her friends steal other girls' lunch money in exchange for letting them use the restroom. She does as little as possible at first to make herself sympathetic to the reader. Yet when she is faced with her own personal hurt, Leslie - the outsider, the nonconformist, the "hippie peacenik" - is the only one able to get through to her. In so doing, she reaches the root of Janice's problems: needing to pick on others to feel better after suffering abuse at her father's hands. Why does Leslie get through where others cannot?

Hook: When Jess goes to Washington, D.C. with his music teacher, he comes back to find Leslie has died in his absence.
Approach: Plot and character-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: Jess has a crush on Miss Edmunds, goes to D.C. to be closer to her. Leslie tries to get to Terabithia without him and accidentally falls and drowns. Jess blames himself, feels guilt both for not being there and for liking his teacher in a different way from his friend. When he finds out Leslie's parents have had her body cremated, he feels there is not even anything physical left of hers to grieve over. Discuss ways Jess finds to work through his grief, guilt, and loss.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Middle/High school

Challenge Issues: Character death, violence.
This book was written at a time when very few Young Adult books dealt with the issue of death, and still remains controversial because of it. Leslie's death, although unexpected, sudden, and tragic, is given a sensitive and honest treatment by Paterson, and is never sensationalized or played for excessive pathos. Janice Avery, the school bully, picks on younger girls until she is given her comeuppance, at which time Leslie manages to find out that Janice herself is the victim of parental abuse. Rather than being too upsetting for young readers, these elements may in fact help them cope with similar circumstances, should they ever encounter them in life.

Why I Chose This Book: Although I enjoyed this book as a child, I was unaware until I reread it as an adult the exact implications that Leslie's entrance into Jess's life has on his outlook. Although Jess is not exactly unhappy in his life before he meets her, she opens up possibilities he had hoped were there, but never dared search for by himself. This book is also particularly useful for young readers who have to cope with the loss of a friend, family member, or other loved one.