Response to Bridge to Terabithia

I have read several reviews about the Bridge to Terabithia , and I agree that the story is well written and easy to understand. The story is about a lonely boy named Jess from a conservative, rural family meeting and becoming friends with an outgoing, yet lonely girl named Leslie from a liberal, urban family. The two children create an imaginary world of their own in which they have adventures and act out their fantasies. Unfortunately, while Jess is enjoying a special outing with the music teacher, Leslie drowns. Plot lines involving two people meeting then one of the characters dying aren’t unusual. The same story line was used in Love Story, A Separate Peace, My Girl, and other novels.

What is unique about Bridge to Terabithia is Katherine Paterson’s command of dialogue. The dialogue in Bridge is so natural that the speakers could be any two children of eight years old at play.

To me, the most significant aspect of the Bridge to Terabithia is how the author handled the story after Leslie died. Katherine Paterson led Jess through the grieving process. She allowed him to be glad that he was alive, angry at Leslie for getting herself killed, torn with grief because he did not invite her to go along on the trip with the music teacher, through denial, and finally to acceptance. Jess was not forced to listen to trite comments like ‘chin up’ and ‘don’t cry’, or “She’s gone to a better place.”

Several sources have lesson plans for use with Bridge to Terabithia. This web site looked particularly helpful.

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/paterson.html