Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Bridge to Terabithia centers on Jess Aarons, a 10-year-old farm kid in rural Virginia. Jess trained relentlessly all summer to outrun every other boy in his class to become “the fastest kid in the fifth grade.” Imagine his surprise when a new student shows up and beats everyone handily on day one. And this student happens to be the new neighbor girl, Leslie Burke.

Leslie is kind of different and obviously out of place. But despite their rocky beginning, Jess and Leslie strike up a fast friendship. Leslie is smart and interesting and “worldly” in the sense that she is from the city and has experiences and ideas beyond the small farming community to which her family has recently relocated. Through Jess’ friendship with Leslie, he begins to tap into a different side of himself that is artistic and imaginative, qualities that aren’t much tolerated in his own family.

The “Terabithia” from the book’s title refers to a secluded place in the woods where Jess and Leslie go to imagine themselves king and queen of a magical kingdom. It is their secret place to escape their childhood responsibilities and disappointments. Once they spot the crab apple tree, grab hold of the rope tethered to it, and then swing across the creek bed, they’ve entered their refuge and “the special world of their own.”

The book’s final act is a tragedy: after an unusually rainy spring, the creek bed separating Terabithia from real life is surging with high water, and Leslie drowns one morning when the rope that she swings from unexpectedly snaps. Jess experiences the full gamut of emotions in response to her death, ranging from denial to anger, from self-blame, and finally to acceptance. The book ends with Jess introducing his younger sister to Terabithia, as he resolves to pass on the wonder and beauty of that magical place in memory of Leslie.

Reading Level: Ages 10-13
Read Aloud Age: 11+

While the reading level is solidly upper elementary on up into middle school, this is a book that confronts difficult, heavy themes. The climax of the book is the sudden death of the protagonist’s closest friend, and it is gut-wrenching. My recommendation would be to read this book with your child so that you can help them process their own emotions as well as talk through passages that address difficult, but common, childhood experiences. Examples of such experiences include bullying, feeling misunderstood by your own family, sibling conflict, and of course the death of a loved one.

Children who feel a little out of place or misunderstood may gravitate to the main character, Jess Aarons. He is the only boy in a family with four daughters, and while he desperately craves his father’s approval, he also seeks to discover his own interests and passions (namely drawing and painting) outside of farm life. Jess carries a lot of responsibility in his family, and his parents seem not to appreciate or affirm him. These are some of the places that parents reading aloud with their children could interject and explain that while it’s normal to want to seek out your own interests, your family is by God’s design the best context in which to pursue them. Your family loves you and wants what is best for you. This message does not come across in the book. Jess does not bond with either of his parents in any meaningful way until Leslie dies, and only then does Jess finally connect with his father in his grief.

Another prime opportunity for discussion with your child is when the book addresses questions about God and what happens after death. None of the book’s characters are Christians (Jess and his family only attend church on Easter), and Jess and his family are ignorant of what happens to a person after he or she dies. The extent of their knowledge can be summed up by the 6-year-old May Belle: “Don’t God damn you to hell if you don’t believe the Bible?” In scenes like this (and in the aftermath of Leslie’s own death where Jess struggles to reconcile God’s character with a dead little girl), these are optimal moments for parents to take the lead and explain what is true and biblical about God, about death, and about heaven and hell.

Due to the content of the book that presents an unbiblical view of God and death, as well as the coarse language that the children use and their treatment of each other, I would only recommend this book be read with parents, either as a read-aloud (followed by discussion) or as a book that you read separately and then you discuss each chapter together. The book addresses common childhood experiences and questions. However, these are questions that children should not be left to puzzle through alone.

Language:

Lord, as in “Lord, I’m tired.” or “Lord, he loved to draw.”

A few occurrences of “damn”; one occurrence of “bitched”

Coarse Talk: Hell, hellhole, references to swearing on the Bible, references to “saying a cuss word”, school bully smokes in the bathroom, reference to church being “boring”

Name-calling: Creep, dumb, pervert, snotty, priss-face, big mouth, dumb cow, stupid, female gorilla, fat, disgusting, ugly

Multiple references to unflattering depictions of adults: a teacher (e.g., “Monster Mouth Myers”, “Mrs. Double-Chinned Myers”) and a preacher (“red-faced and sweating”, compared to Jess’ sister having a tantrum)

Rudeness: “I’m gonna kill so-and-so” and “I hate so-and-so.”

One reference to Jess loving to draw “the way some people drink whiskey.”

Questionable Behaviors:

It is discovered that one of the school bullies actually gets beat at home by her dad. This is viewed by Jess and others as commonplace in their community; however, what is uncommon and looked down upon is that the girl talked about it at school. Some kind of unwritten code appears to have been broken by her telling others at school.

Jess and his sisters bicker and fight constantly. His older sisters are depicted as selfish, disrespectful, mean, and neglectful of their responsibilities. His younger sisters are more of a nuisance to Jess, with 6-year-old May Belle the occasional exception. Sadly, Jess’ own parents also don’t treat him well. His mother snaps at him, complains, and zones out in front of the television. She caves to her older daughters’ demands. His father is distant, short-tempered, and suspicious of Jess’ love for drawing.

At the height of his anger and grief at Leslie’s tragic death, Jess hits his younger sister May Belle after she provokes him with a thoughtless comment.

Bullying is also depicted at Jess’ school, with frequent references to the obesity of one particular female bully. Jess and Leslie devise a cruel scheme to humiliate the bully using a fake love letter.

Sexual Content:

Jess is teased about having a “girlfriend.”

One reference to someone being “bosom-y.”

Jess has a strong crush on his music teacher, the beautiful, “hippie-ish” Miss Edmunds. She invites him to view the Smithsonian museums with her one day, but she appears to be oblivious to Jess’s boyhood crush. One reference to Miss Edmunds’ “tight jeans.”

A reference to one of Jess’ sisters buying a “see-through blouse”.

One insinuation by Jess’ father is that Jess’ love of drawing has been encouraged at school and is making him effeminate.

Other Things to Know:

Be cautious sharing this book with a child who is sensitive to body-shaming comments. The book is full of language that is demeaning and humiliating to others based on their weight, particularly adults and children who are overweight. In some respects it is reflective of the book’s time period (the book was written in the 1970s), but that will be no consolation to a child who is sensitive to rude comments about their own size.

There are some references to the “the spirits” of Terabithia. As non-Christian, non-churched kids, Jess and Leslie appear to want to address a higher power or deity in thankfulness for their beloved Terabithia, but without the knowledge of the God of the Bible, they flounder in addressing a generic “God” or some kind of New Age-y “spirits of the Grove”. Leslie also wonders if the constant spring rain is some kind of “curse” from an evil force.

One other issue to note is that Terabithia is a “secret” place for Jess and Leslie. They are careful not to share their special place with others. Parents may want to explain to their children that this is not a safe or a wise approach to play spaces with their friends. Parents need to know where their children go to play – not to ruin or squash their fun but to keep them safe. This is precisely the issue surrounding Leslie’s death. She runs off to Terabithia alone, without any parental supervision or awareness. Her death could possibly have been prevented.

This review is written by contributor, Nancy. To learn more about Nancy, click HERE.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclaimer for more info.