Et cetera : What We're Reading-Bridge to Terabithia

Review of 'Bridge to Terabithia' by Katherine Paterson:

I said I would never read it, but here we are! I always heard that 'Bridge to Terabithia' was, and I quote, "heart-rending", "so sad", "a tear-jerker", "tragic", etc., and I'm so sentimental I decided that I couldn't' get through it! Then, a young lady asked me if it was too sad for her to read, and I had to admit I didn't know. I read the book in an evening and loved it from the first chapter! The book that I had was the Special 40th Anniversary Edition of this Newberry Medal winner, and we have it here at the Vinton Public Library. Both the book and the audiobook are available on the Libby app as well.

The story begins with our young hero, 11 yr.-old Jess, as he drags himself out of bed to practice running. The goal is to be the fastest runner in fifth grade, and he's willing to work hard to succeed. Then one day a U-Haul parks at the run-down farm just across the field and down the hill; the next morning while Jess is running in the cow pasture, an entity of unknown gender appears and engages him in conversation. The exact conversation: "I thought we might as well be friends...There's no one else close by." Thus begins the story of a magic summer, the enchanted country of Terabithia, and the hard lessons of understanding, acceptance, love, and loss. Don't wait forty years for another Anniversary Edition to read this classic!

~Connie, Library Assistant