Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Amazon List

Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, is a wonderful example of a novel that contains nearly every evaluative criteria for contemporary realistic fiction. However, it is the story’s setting that influences and allows the plot to develop as it does. Set in the small town of Lark Creek, outside of Washington D.C., Bridge to Terabithia gives the main characters, Jess and Leslie, just enough room, freely roaming the countryside near their farmhouses, to develop their private friendship and allow their imaginations to create their magical kingdom of Terabithia, among the pine trees and river. Jess and Leslie reside as king and queen of Terabithia, and it is in that place that they are able to share with each other their deepest feelings and evolve personalities that fully compliment one another. Jess’s small-town, simple and pure mind, a product of living in Lark Creek his entire life,  is awakened by the more contemporary characters of Leslie and his teacher, Miss Edmunds. However, it is the plot that weaves together such believable characters and drives home the themes of friendship, childhood imagination, and eventually death and personal transformation, during the climax and denouement of this novel. Bridge to Terabithia gracefully handles these themes through plot, and character development, without over-analyzing them or forcing them on younger readers. They evolve naturally, and Bridge to Terabithia is one of the rare novels that is able to tackle the theme of death for young children, in a realistic and and age-appropriate manner.

Evaluative Criteria: Setting, Plot, Theme (included in review)

Paterson, Katherine (1977).  Bridge to Terabithia.  Harper Collins Publishing.  New York.

-Ms. J