Hi everyone! I’m back with another blog post, and today I will be reviewing Bridge to Terabithia. I read this several years ago and have also watched the movie, and it’s pretty sad.
To start, I’ll share a summary of the book *spoilers included.* The main character in the story is named Jesse Aarons, and he starts the book off by being pretty lonely. People never really showed interest in him, inside and outside of his family. The only exception to this was his teacher Miss Edmunds, who he has a crush on. However, Leslie moves in next door and she also takes interest in becoming friends with Jesse. They’re very imaginative 5th graders and go off to play in the woods. They have a made up land called Terabithia. They spend lots of time playing there and having fun with each other and Jesse is very happy. However, one day he wants to take a trip with Miss Edmunds to see the National Gallery over in Washington for a day. While his mother is barely awake, he asks if she can go so that she’ll be too tired to really think about it since he knows she would say no otherwise. Leslie wanted to test out the rope and swing over the creek, but Jesse left anyway so he could hang out at a gallery with Miss Edmunds. He has such a fun time with Miss Edmunds and they eat lunch and she even purchases ice cream for him before going home. He’s over the moon- until suddenly he walks into his house and finds out very unfortunate news. Leslie had in fact been swinging across the creek, and she was found dead. They believed she must have drowned. His only friend was now gone. He struggles with coping and is very sad. He blames himself for going to Washington, because he thinks had he stayed Leslie would’ve had someone. But he didn’t, so she was all alone. However, he is able to eventually cope. He does so by building a bridge to Terabithia and really spends time there. He honors her memory since this was their shared world, which is sweet.
This book is very sad. However, I think it is also very beautiful and fun to read. Although Leslie died, she and Jesse still had fun times together. The stories' lessons about friendship and how life is fragile serve as great reminders of the good and the bad, making this worth it to read. Overall, I would rate this an 7.5/10, given it is a book for younger readers. Thanks for reading my blog!
Hi Naomi! I've seen a whole bunch of uh Youtube Shorts about The Bridge to Terabithia and it looks so so sad but I never knew the part about Jesse having a crush on his teacher... Anyways this sounds like an interesting story. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot about this book before, but I've never actually gotten the chance to read it before. I've always heard that it's both really heartwarming and sad. Great post! I'll see if I can check this book out sometime in the future!
ReplyDeleteHi Naomi!! I read this book back during covid and I remember being so sad by the ending. However, like you mentioned I think the story teaches important lessons about friendship and grief. Great review, I might have to go re-read this book.
ReplyDeleteHi Naomi! I remember reading this book back in 6th grade for ELA, I also watched the movie and I have to say both are entertaining if someone is looking for a short read/watch. I enjoyed reading your post and overall I like how you transitioned through the story, great post!
ReplyDeleteI had multiple level 10 crashouts while I read this book when I was like 11... the depiction of grief is so unbelievably touching 😭 Great post!!
ReplyDeleteI think I watched the movie based on this book a while ago. The two things I remember are how sad the movie as and how bad the cgi was. Great review.
ReplyDeleteHi Naomi! I have also read Bridge to Terabithia, and I agree that it is such a sad story. I haven't watched the movie, though, so I'll check that out.
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