I don't even know how to start reviewing this book. I didn't like it. It's hard when you read a beloved book and you just don't see what everyone else saw. Maybe this book's time has passed. I don't know. But I found it to be woefully dated, and problematic as a result.

Okay, I get that we're supposed to see that Jess and Leslie don't conform to gender norms. The problem? It's based on 1970s ideas of what gender should be. Which means that things that wouldn't make people bat an eye today were emphasized as a huge deal. Jess likes to draw. He's girly! Leslie rarely wears dresses and likes to run. She's boyish! The music teacher wears jeans and no lipstick. *gasp* What's wrong with her?! To make matters worse, when characters were portrayed as sticking to traditional gender norms, it was implied that it was a negative thing (you could see this especially with Jess's older sisters).

Then there was the sexism. Oh, boy. I know it was written in 1977, but it was still so grating. One of the worst parts was when the teacher talked about scuba diving as being an unusual hobby... for a girl. Combined with the misogyny that the little boys were throwing around on the playground, it made for an uncomfortable read.

Some aspects of the story and characters just don't work anymore. One of the ways (one of the only ways, really) that the author seemed to be able to think of to indicate that a character was bad was to make them fat... and then have others comment on it. Seriously, pretty much every insult was about someone's weight. The school bully (more on her in a moment) got called a cow and a hippo, and commentary was made about the size of her butt. Jess's sister Brenda got the same treatment, even having her weight commented on at one point by her six-year-old sister. (Full disclosure: I've never been overweight in my life. In fact, I've been skinny. So I've never had to deal with fat comments. If the amount of fat-shaming in this book was making me uncomfortable, I can't imagine how it would read to someone who struggles with their weight.)

There were also some things that just read as inappropriate. For example, I was totally weirded out when Jess's little sister accused him of staring at her when she was in her underwear... because he follows up with what's basically a pedophilic incest joke. (Why would an eleven-year-old boy know enough about that to joke about it? Yeesh.) Then there was the trip he took with his teacher. Alone. To another city. Where she buys him lunch and ice cream. Oh, yeah... and he had a terrible crush on her. I understand that this was written before the Mary Kay Letourneau era, but it's just one more thing that's going to have to be explained to younger readers as being not okay. Yes, in this instance, it was innocent. But there have been real-life cases where it wasn't. And then there was the scene where Jess shot milk straight into Leslie's mouth with no warning (other than a command to open her mouth) and no consent. This wouldn't fly in an era of food allergies, for one thing... but the whole scene was just gross. If I'd opened up the book and randomly stumbled across that page, based on the word choices and actions, I would've assumed it was erotica:

“Here,” he said. “Open your mouth.”
“Why?”
“Just open your mouth.” For once she obeyed. He sent a stream of warm milk straight into it.
“Jess Aarons!” The name was garbled and the milk dribbled down her chin as she spoke.
“Don’t open your mouth now. You’re wasting good milk.”
Leslie started to giggle, choking and coughing.
“Now if I could just learn to pitch a baseball that straight. Lemme try again.”
Leslie controlled her giggle, closed her eyes, and solemnly opened her mouth.
But now Jess was giggling, so that he couldn’t keep his hand steady.
“You dunce! You got me right in the ear.”

The bully (if you can call her that; bullying was apparently pretty tame in the 1970s and seemed to involve stealing hopscotch rocks and Twinkies) was also handled in an appalling way. We find out that she's a nasty girl because her father beats her. But then--and I don't know if I've ever been so disgusted with a book's message--it's implied that she did something wrong because the secret got out. It was shameful. It was supposed to stay hidden. In fact, the advice to this poor girl? Ignore the taunting from the other kids and they'll forget about it and everything will go back to normal. (Except she'll still be beaten at home... but that's okay, I guess.) The author even reiterated this advice in her author's note, as she recounted hearing from children who'd been "helped" by the book:

There was the child who found her family’s dark secrets were suddenly the gossip of all her classmates and only got through the most horrible time of her life by remembering Leslie’s advice to Janice Avery—to pretend she didn’t know what anybody had said or where they’d got such a crazy story and that everybody would forget about it in a week.

Yeah. "Such a crazy story" definitely needed to be forgotten so the bully's father could go back to beating her without having to worry about a visit from child services. What... the... hell?

I know this book was used in schools, and while at one time it probably brought up some interesting discussions about death and grief, I think it might be too fraught with other issues for today's teachers to be able to get through all the ensuing discussions in a reasonable amount of time. I don't think I'd want my kids reading it without some real discussion about the problematic bits... and there are plenty.

Sometimes not reading the blurb can bite you in the ass. I somehow thought this was a light fantasy that they made a movie of and as it was over 40 years old and won a Newbury Award, that it would be a fun read.

Not so and lots of tissues, but extremely well done. Worth the read for sure, just surprised.

Well I read this book when I was at middle school, and I got sad when Leslie died it was so so sad.
But my first concern that I didn't like this book that I read it at school!!!!

The movie got so much hype that I decided that I would read the book to my kids before letting them see the movie. I hate how so many movies are comming out about classic books. I personally feel it is discouraging kids to read. I understand that lots of movies are based on books, but it seems that a new trend is to make movies based on really popular books. Anyway, I wanted my kids to hear the book before seeing the movie. I actually wasn't impressed with this book at all. It moved pretty slowly and it didn't seem to make any good connections to make me really "feel". I would rate this a very much a childrens books. I am sure that kids that haven't been exposed to many deep books would love it. My kids were sort of interested. We ended up stopping the book before the end. I knew how it ended and knew that my kids wouldn't like the ending. My kids do know a good book when they hear it... we are currently reading "Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe" and they LOVE it!

I haven't cried this hard when reading a book in years.

Enjoyable enough but was bummed that I figured out the ending before I got there.

Still cry thinking about this book.

Bridge to Terabithia is wonderful and beautiful and all of the great imaginative things that children should experience as they grow up.

It is realistic and gritty, and a true look at all that is hardship in a small town and when attending a small school. This book is written so well that you feel like you are there watching it unfold as you read.

The movie definitely did this book justice, and I cried like a baby even when I knew what was going to happen. 5 stars. Touchingly wonderful.

i remember reading this as a kid and feeling shaken, overwhelmed with emotion at the unexpected way the story bent. all these years later, that emotion—the grief—had crystallized in my mind to the point where i remember the intensity of feeling (and the twist that led me to feel those feels) but not any other details about this novel.

recently, i've been craving something that will make me feel—emotional escapism—and my mind went to terabithia. rereading this has highlighted for me that many parts of this book did NOT age well: the blatant fatphobia, described almost with a relish; the one-dimensional renderings of jess' sisters, who are either snotty airheads or eager recipients of his disparagement; and even the abrupt way the book treats its most pivotal moment.

and yet, i definitely felt feels—my eyes welled up as i reached the ending i knew was coming. i'm not sure i'll reread this book again, but the emotionality of this story will stay with me for a long time still.

If Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) is about a bridge that fell down and killed 5 people, Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia (1977) is about a bridge that is put up because of a person's death.

In this children's book, American novelist Katherine Paterson (born 1932) created a make believe world of Terabithia whose name she unconsciously coined from C. S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader where Lewis has an island called Terebinthia. However she added that Lewis probably based his island's name from Terebinth tree in the Holy Bible so they both pinched from somewhere else, probably unconsciously.

Anyways, enough about the name. It's just that I was asked twice already about the meaning of the title of the book that I reviewed so it is becoming part of my psyche to always ask myself the meaning of the title after reading the book especially if the reason is not clear or obvious.

The story, set in a small town in the US, is about two lonely 10 year olds, Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke who find each other's company enjoyable because they are different from the rest of the grade schoolers. Jesse is fond of drawing and he feels unappreciated. Leslie comes from the city, reads a lot of children's fantasy books (her parents are writers) and does not have TV set at home. Before Leslie transfers to Jesse's school, he (Jesse) is the fastest runner. So, their friendship starts with jealousy (because Leslie runs faster than Jesse) and hate but they end up as king and queen of Leslie's make believe world of Terabithia.

Sweet story. I am not surprised that even young adults in their teens, 20's and even 30's find this book amazing and rate it with 5 stars. It brings back memories of make-believe worlds when we were young. Especially for those who are in their early 20's and starting their careers, welcome to the real world, dudes!. No more allowances from parents and you have to scrimp yourselves with what you earn. Since you are starting, your salary is ,eager but you are ashamed to ask mom or dad anymore. You want to prove your independence. For those who are starting their families, more budgeting skills are needed. These hardships in real world are sometimes reasons enough for you to think of retreating back to your former secured happy worlds of make-believes. So now, even for few hours, you want to go back there: when you were young and not worrying about money or relationships. Like being in Terabithia and you can do whatever you want because you are the King like Aaron or the Queen like Leslie. Sometimes, you even want to cry oh, I hated the book for making me cry especially when Leslie died because of the pain of realization. You are no longer a child. You are now too old for make-believes. But hey, that's life. You will grow old too. We will all die.

Am I not right?

I don't see how a middle grade book can do this to somebody.

Razones por las que me gustó este libro:
-Refleja dos maneras del trato hacia las infancias. Por un lado, la familia de Jess que lo subestima y lo enmarca en "lo que deben ser los niños", que es fría con él, pero que sin duda lo ama. Por otro lado, la familia de Leslie que es de "mente abierta", cálida, horizontal.
-Es la historia de una amistad que se forja a través de la escucha y la imaginación. Tanto Jess como Leslie pueden mirar otras perspectivas, se apoyan, confían, crecen juntos.
-Es contundente con el final. No hay manera de predecir el futuro y, a veces, las cosas tan simplemente suceden. Cómo afrontarlo, esta historia refleja una bellísima manera de cuidar de nosotros mismos ante hechos tan repentinos y tristes.