A Review of Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson

Bridge to Terabithia is a novel written by an American writer named Katherine Peterson. This book is about two people, who are named Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. They are both from 5th grade. Jess is a good runner who practiced all of summer for a so called “Recess Race”, which is a competition organized by the students where they compete in running. The winner gets fame from their peers and a good feel. One unexpected thing happened and that is that the new kid, Leslie wins the race. After some time, both Leslie and Jess become good friends.

One of the things that the boys have in common is the fact that they both have issues in school and at home. Both try to help each other with these problems, which makes them better. Few of the problems are that Leslie is being bullied for the way she acts and for the way she clothes because others say that it is “different”. This is the result of her parents working too much and that they can’t find time for her. Jess is not left without problems. He like some people enjoys drawing and art, but his father says that he should stop and quit it, because it is a waste of time. The reason for that is the fact that his father says he should watch sports and be more manly.

Once, they stumble upon a place in a forest. They choose to name it Terabithia. Using a rope swing across the creek is the only convenient and possible way to get to this place. After some time and more frequent visits of Terabithia, they refer to each other as the King and the Queen of this hidden place. Terabithia also helps Jess and Leslie to be themselves and not worry about their many problems, because using their imagination and imagery creates opportunities for them to create new scenarios and games.

After some time, a terrible accident occurs. Leslie, who decides to go to Terabithia by herself falls from the rope as it breaks. After finding out, Jess is broken into sadness at first not believing that his best friend, a person who supported him has just left the alive world. It takes some time until he realizes how their friendship has given him enough power to deal with depression and face the problems he cannot change.

There are few themes and messages represented in this story. The main theme in my opinion is “By having someone you trust, you can learn to handle situations better”. The theme could be said as friendship in one word. Having a strong friendship with Leslie, Jess has learned and got enough power to get through bad situations.

My opinion on this book is that it is a pretty interesting book. I enjoyed the message and theme of this novel. I would give it 3.5-4 stars out of 5 and that is because some parts were too long and not climactic.