Lisa Christina Hill

Bridge to Terabithia is a children's novel written by Katherine Paterson, about two children named Leslie and Jesse who create a magical forest kingdom in their imaginations.

The name of the imaginary kingdom is similar to that of the Narnian island Terebinthia, created by C. S. Lewis in 1951 or earlier for Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Paterson drew inspiration for the novel from a real event that occurred in August 1974 when her son's friend was struck and killed by lightning.

The novel tells the story of fifth grader Jesse Aarons, who becomes friends with his new neighbor, Leslie Burke, after he loses a footrace to her at school.

Leslie is a tomboy from a wealthy family, and Jesse thinks highly of her.

Jesse is an artistic boy from a poorer family who, in the beginning, is fearful and angry.

After meeting Leslie, however, his life is transformed.

He becomes courageous and learns to let go of his frustration.

The two children create a kingdom for themselves, which Leslie names "Terabithia."

Katherine Paterson lived for a time in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The novel was inspired by an incident during that time: on August 14, 1974, her son David's best friend, Lisa Christina Hill, died after being struck by lightning in Bethany Beach, Delaware.

She was eight years old.

The book was originally published in 1977 by Thomas Crowell, and in 1978, it won the Newbery Medal.

It has been adapted for the screen twice: a 1985 PBS TV movie and a 2007 Disney/Walden Media feature film.

The novel's content has been the frequent target of censorship and appears at number eight on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books for the decade 1990–2000.

Paterson observed in 2005:

"I thought I had made it up. Then, rereading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis, I realized that I had probably gotten it from the island of Terebinthia in that book. However, Lewis probably got that name from the terebinth tree in the Bible, so both of us pinched from somewhere else, probably unconsciously."

The novel makes a direct reference to The Chronicles of Narnia as a series of books Leslie lends to Jess, in order to help him learn to behave like a king.

The novel also indirectly alludes to the fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain.

Ten-year-old Jesse "Jess" Aarons has trained all summer to be the fastest runner in his rural school.

Secretly, he wants to be an artist, but his father disapproves.

He has a crush on the school music teacher, Miss Edmunds, the only person who encourages him to draw.

Jess's new neighbor, Leslie Burke, is a wealthy tomboy from Arlington, Virginia.

At recess on the first day of school, Leslie outruns everyone.

The other students mock her for being a teacher's pet and for not owning a television.

When Jess defends Leslie from Janice Avery, a seventh-grade bully, they become friends.

They play by a dry creek behind Leslie's house.

They pretend they are the king and queen of a hidden magical kingdom, Terabithia, that can be entered only by swinging over the creek bed on an old rope.

When Jess's six-year-old sister May Belle brings Twinkies to school for lunch, Janice Avery steals them.

At Terabithia, Jess and Leslie forge a love letter to Janice from a boy she likes.

The letter asks for a date, and Janice is humiliated when he does not show up.

Months later, Leslie hears Janice crying in the bathroom.

Jess convinces Leslie to help Janice.

Janice tells Leslie that she is abusively beaten by her father, and her so-called friends have just gossiped about it to the entire seventh grade.

Leslie comforts Janice by telling her that everyone will forget about it in a week.

That night, May Belle tells Jess that she followed him and Leslie to the creek.

He makes her swear never to follow them again nor to tell their mother.

On Easter, Leslie goes to church with Jess's family.

While she calls the story of Jesus "beautiful," she doubts it.

This upsets May Belle, who believes God will damn Leslie to hell when she dies.

That week, rain turns the dry creek bed into a rushing river.