Introduction:
Katherine Paterson was born in China, where she lived as a girl with her missionary parents. She also spent parts of her young life in Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia. As a child, Ms. Paterson wanted to be a movie star or a missionary. The first books she published were about Japan, where she lived for a while as an adult. She has won numerous literary awards, including two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. While the town and characters in Bridge to Terabithia are fictional, Ms. Paterson did teach for a year in a rural Virginia school, and the idea for the story came from a real-life experience. Ms. Paterson’s son, David, had a childhood best friend named Lisa Hill, who was struck and killed by lightning at the age of eight. Writing Bridge to Terabithia was in many ways an attempt for her to make sense of this tragedy. Ms. Paterson now lives in Vermont with her husband. They have four grown children.
Literature Review
After training all summer to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade at Lark Creek Elementary School, Jess Aarons loses the race to a girl on the first day of school. Inexplicably, however, this girl becomes his best friend. Leslie Burke’s imagination leads them to Terabithia, an imaginary kingdom they build in the woods. Jess and Leslie rule their fantasyland, delightfully free of the loneliness, social pressures, and bullies of their everyday lives. Through Leslie’s friendship Jess experiences a new sense of himself, but he is unprepared for the tragedy that leaves him to reign alone in Terabithia. Bridge to Terabithia was first published in 1977 and has been engaging and inspiring readers as a poignant story of friendship, courage, and growing up ever since. It was honored with the 1978 Newbery Medal for being the year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
Plot Summary
Bridge to Terabithia is set in rural Virginia in the mid-1970’s. It is important to note that during this time period the social structure of this country was very unsettling. The Vietnam war was almost ending, the nation was becoming divided with war protest, the civil rights movements, and uncertain economic times. Bridge to Terabithia revolves around three group characters: the Aarons, the Burkes, and the students and faculty in the elementary school. Jess Aaron, who is one of the central characters, is the middle son between four sisters. The two older sisters, Brenda and Ellie, are teenagers who have a strong relationship with their mother and have little use for Jess. His younger sisters, Joyce Ann and May Belle, look to Jess as a true big brother, someone they can look up to. Mrs. Aarons, Jess’s mother, has the task of raising the children, working inside and outside the home and being the head of the household because of her husband Mr. Aarons is always away from home working in a nearby city. Mrs. Aarons believes in the unwritten traditional household law that says men do men’s work and women do women’s work. As a result of this, Jess has an unusually high amount of work to do in the absence of his father, which leaves him to believe that he is the least favored child. The Burkes are a well-to-do family with one daughter, Leslie, who moved to rural Virginia from Washington D.C. to reassess their family values. Upon their arrival, they establish their home with only the bare essentials such as no television. While this may seem strange to the young reader today, during this period a number of well-off families were returning to basic lifestyles in order to rediscover their value judgments. Judy and Bill, Leslie’s parents, are writers and spend most of their time absorbed in their work. The condition of the house and attention to Leslie are virtually nonexistent until they finish the books they are working on. Leslie is the other central figure who is hungry for friendship, companionship, and the feeling of belonging. Lark Creek Elementary is a typical rural school. The school is overcrowded and the conditions are very bad. Two teachers, Miss Edmunds and Mrs. Meyers, are very important in this novel. Miss Edmunds is a young music teacher who is very energetic and sincerely likes Jess. As a result, she gives Jess
something to cling to in addition to being very supportive of him. Mrs. Meyers is an older teacher who is in awe of Leslie’s intelligence yet can still appreciate Leslie’s talents. Gary Fulcher, who, like Jess, wants to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade, develops a dislike for Jess when he is forced to race Leslie, who defeats him time and time again. Janice Avery is two years older than Jess and Leslie and as a result of the beatings given to her by her father, consistently antagonizes the children in the school. Terabithia is a magical place in the woods where Jess and Leslie go to get away from day-to-day problems of life. In Terabithia, they can live in their imaginary world where everything is perfect. Jess is made king of the magical place and Leslie is the queen. In order to get to Terabithia they must rope swing across a creek bed. It is doing these visits to Terabithia that Jess and Leslie develop a unparalleled friendship. During the Easter break it begins to rain extremely hard and the creek becomes flooded. The rising water causes Jess extreme concern yet he, with the urging of fearless Leslie continues to rope swing across the creek. Shortly thereafter his music teacher invites him to spend a day in Washington D.C. Leslie goes to Terabithia without him and the rope breaks and she drowns. Jess returns home that night and finds out that Leslie is dead. Grieving, angry, and upset, Jess becomes very moody and withdrawn. Several days later he returns to Terabithia to place a funeral wreath in the castle for Leslie. He hears May Belle crying for help and realizes she has followed him to Terabithia. He rescues her from the creek and eventually takes her to Terabithia and makes her the new queen.