Bridge to Terabithia

Rating:
Summary: So true, so touching
Review: When I read this book in fifth grade for a book report, I barely knew how to say Terebithia. The story started out easy, a boy living in the country on a mini-farm, with one too many sisters and no friends. Then this girl moves to town with money, happy parents, and no sisters, looking for an easy life away from the city. At first they don't get along, then are best friends. I don't want to ruin the book for you, for it is one of the best books you'll read. Now, three years later, I still cry when I think about it. It holds a great life lesson. I don't want to recommand this book to just fourth- sixth graders, I want to recommend this book to everyone. It may be in the Children's chapter book section, but this is a book for young and old.

Rating:
Summary: 20 years and counting, still a favorite
Review: I'm not sure exactly when I got this book, but it was sometime in elementary school. I'm 29 now and I still love it. A tear-jerker with lessons for the heart. I'm buying copies for my nieces and nephews now, and I'm sure they'll enjoy it as much as I have continued to.

Rating:
Summary: Book Ruined
Review: Sadly this book was runined for me after the ending was spoiled in a class I was taking. But this is a book that may serve a purpose in helping a child deal with friendship and loss. I hope that my statements haven't ruined this book for somebody else. Also I wanted to comment that because the books was spoiled for me I may have rated it lower than I might have otherwise.

Rating:
Summary: A heart throbing tale!
Review: Bridge to Terabithia is a wonderful book. Katerine paterson uses clear descriptive detail and you can even imagine the story in your head. It teaches us about real friendship and I would recommend this book to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: My dad and I listened to this book on tape in the car. I liked it a lot. The author used a lot of detail. Everybody should read this book. It has adventures, friendships, enemies, tragedies - everything that a book should have. I wanted the book to never stop. It was the best book I ever heard in my life. I think you should read it or listed to it as I did.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: As a middle school teacher, I plan to read this book as a class novel. I loved it and your kids will too!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read.
Review: I read The Bridge to Terabithia when I was about 8 or 9, and I have read a lot of books since, including Tolkiens Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings. Let me tell you, The Bridge to Terabithia is right up there in the great literature stratosphere. Even when I was a child I recognized this book as one of the greatest books I would ever read. You can really relate to the characters and the ending would make a prison inmate cry (in my opinion).
If you are looking for a really good story that you will remember for the rest of your life and want to reread everyday, The Bridge to Terabithia is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: After reading "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Peterson, I felt a cloud of sadness sweeping over me. I cried and cried and could not stop. I like this book very much because of its powerful mixture of love, friendship and sadness. Jess and Leslie created a magical land called Terabithia. They became the king and the queen of the land. The ending of the story is pretty sad, but it also gives you some hope when Jess built the bridge and May Belle was about to become the new queen of the Terabithia. I encourage you to read this wonderful story of Jess and Leslie being the rulers of the land of Terabithia.

Rating:
Summary: it'll make a grown man cry
Review: Leslie was more than his friend; she was his other, more exciting, self, his way to Terabithia and all the worlds beyond. -Bridge to Terabithia

Okay, before I make this unmanly confession, let me first state in my own defense that I have two small children and I was listening to the conclusion of this book at a very early hour, before I'd even had breakfast to fortify me for the day. That said, I'll now acknowledge that I very nearly started sobbing...

In 1976, Katherine Paterson's son David was 8 years old when his friend, Lisa Hill, was struck by lightning and killed. A year later Bridge to Terabithia was published, winning a Newberry Medal and becoming, if such a thing is possible, an instant classic. Ms Paterson drew upon this personal tragedy to create the story of a boy, Jess Aarons, and a girl, Leslie Burke, in rural Virginia, who become the best of friends. Jess is the middle child, and only son, of a reticent father, who struggles to earn a living. Leslie is the daughter, and only child, of two successful writers who have moved to the country, next door to the Aarons, for lifestyle reasons.

The friendship between the two kids is hesitant at first, particularly after Leslie usurps Jess's title as the fastest runner in their 5th grade class at Lark Creek Elementary. But both have some trouble fitting in with theirs peers, Jess because of his interest in Art, Leslie because of her scholastic ability and her parents' very 70s social attitudes (like not having a TV), and this shared awkwardness gives them a unique bond. Leslie creates an imaginary kingdom called Terabithia for them to rule over, accessible only be a rope swing over a local creek. The imaginary adventures they share there and a series of incidents at school bring the two closer and closer together. But then an ugly reality intrudes upon their idyllic world and the various characters are forced to deal with a tragic death. To say more might ruin the story, so let's leave it at that.

I understand that the use of this book in classrooms is frequently challenged by parents. If the reason for this is that they feel that the central crisis of the book may be too intense for children, I can sympathize with their feeling. But it seems like an intensity that is well worth their children's while. Ms Paterson handles the situation quite beautifully and affords a real opportunity for parents to discuss the matter of death with their kids, a topic which most families hopefully haven't much had to cope with. Reading the book is a difficult emotional experience, but better to first confront these emotions in a controlled fictional setting and begin to learn how to deal with them, than to remain totally sheltered and have to deal with them, completely unprepared, when the tragedy is real.

GRADE : A

Rating:
Summary: A very touching book
Review: This book is very touching and very emotional towards the end. The book reminds me of my little 9 year old sister because she always imagines that she is in her own little world. She pretends that she is in a spaceship like Jess and Leslie were pretending they were in a magical kingdom. I would recommend this book for other kids because of the way it shows friendship and you can learn to be careful what you wish for. It might be harder for young kids to understand.