Book Review: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Genre: juvenile, drama
Pages: 128
First Published: 1977
Personal Rating: Sloop
My Tagline: You're not born with courage. Sometimes you have to go find it.

I don't have much to say about this book except that, unlike most people who read it, I found it very good and not at all depressing. In fact, I found it terribly sweet, and an all-round beautiful piece of literature.

Jesse Aarons, Jr. is a wonderfully likable, though typical, farm boy. Like most boys his age, he concentrates only on the fleeting dreams of the here-and-now, and simply lives life as best he can with two horrid older sisters, an absent father, and a distemperate mother. The only real satisfaction he gets out of life comes when he runs. He's determined to be "the fastest kid in the fifth grade" come school year, and has his heart dead set on getting his classmates' respect.

But someone manages to steal his dream of fame in a few short minutes, and in an embarassing and completely unexpected way: Leslie Burke, the city kid that just moved in next door, creams him in a running match-off. The worse part, of course, is that Leslie's a girl.

In spite of his reluctance, Jess quickly becomes friends with Leslie and they form an impenetrable bond. Jess quickly realizes why he likes Leslie: she's free. She's the most courageous, imaginative person he's ever met, and she'll try anything to prove herself. As their friendship matures, Jess realizes that compared to her, he has little to no courage whatsoever. Together, they create a hiding place, a refuge from daily life and its troubles, a place Leslie names "Terabithia." There, Leslie tells stories and Jess learns more about himself...and what he wants from life, including courage.

My only disappointment was that the author's view of God and heaven are obviously not Biblical. God will not be trifled with, and anyone (even children) who believe in anything other than His gift of salvation through Christ do not "go to heaven." That was the bittersweet part of reading this book, for me. It's terribly disheartening to think that the final hope for this book is based on a worldly sense of who God is.

But, in general, I consider this a very well-crafted diamond of a story, and I would certainly recommend it to others. It will also probably end up on my reread shelf at some point. Personally I thought the message behind it is a little-touched-on, but poignant theme: courage isn't something you're born with. Sometimes you have to go find it.