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Bridge To Terabithia

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 164,589 ratings · 5,354 reviews

Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone.

That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable...more

128 pages

Published (first published 1977)

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Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

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Aug 20, 2007 Elaine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: ages 9-100

Shelves: childrens-literature, beauty

When I read this in fourth grade, I loved it because it was enchanting, and reminded me very much of 'secret hideouts' I made with friends at the same age. When I read it again later in life, aloud to my younger brother and sister ages 10 and 12, I was choking back tears to keep reading aloud, and they were crying. If you've never read it (or, I suppose now, seen the movie) beware, this review is a spoiler! What I have learned from this book is that our assumptions about children and what is "ap...more

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Mar 30, 2008 Jon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: middle school curriculums

Shelves: children-s-lit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Bridge to Terabithia is a staple of many middle school literary curriculums; however, it is one of the most challenged books in school systems across the country. Opponents of this book preposterously assert that it has references to witchcraft and Satanism. I read this book in 5th grade and gathered no references to the use of magic at all. The book involves two children having imaginary adventures in the imaginary land of Terabithia. Such imaginary games are common for children. Yet some asser...more Bridge to Terabithia is a staple of many middle school literary curriculums; however, it is one of the most challenged books in school systems across the country. Opponents of this book preposterously assert that it has references to witchcraft and Satanism. I read this book in 5th grade and gathered no references to the use of magic at all. The book involves two children having imaginary adventures in the imaginary land of Terabithia. Such imaginary games are common for children. Yet some assert that Katherine Patterson’s writing about such common activities is a reference to witchcraft. The book is an amazing piece of children’s literature and one of the only pieces from fifth and sixth grade a number of my peers remember reading. It stood out to us. We remembered it and used it to become better writers and thinkers. It helped us transition to more complex books. Educators and teachers should advocate strongly for this book to be read in class.
Patterson instills into this book many important thematic elements of a great story in a manner that younger students will be able to identify with some thought on the book. Foreshadowing, character development, symbolism, and a clear connected thread and purpose are present throughout the whole story as Jess makes friends with the new girl Leslie, learns important lessons from her that help him to become more confident, and then is forced to say goodbye when she dies entering their imaginary land of Terabithia.
To an older reader, the foreshadowing of Leslie’s death is a little heavy-handed, but in no way poorly presented to a younger audience. “Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was as delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any direction and it was blown to bits” (Paterson, 99). When May Belle becomes horrified of Leslie’s independent thoughts on the authenticity of the Bible, she exclaims, “What’s going to happen if you die?” (Paterson 109). Paterson makes the readers contemplate Leslie’s death briefly and insincerely several times before forcing them to do it for real. When she dies, they must revisit those thoughts they’d only touched on. “The Perkins place was one of those ratty old country houses you moved into because you had no decent place to go and moved out as quickly as you could” (Paterson 10). If the reader takes this passage seriously, they must know that the Burkes will leave Jess, in one way or another. After Leslie’s death the Burkes do leave. “No one ever stayed in the old Perkins place” (Paterson 161). As a result of this heavy foreshadowing, the books overall tone adopts one of reflection, as opposed to simple telling, a story that had to be told, that demanded to be told. Patterson’s accomplishment here is powerful to a child’s appreciation of literature and their ability to deceiver more complex literature later.
Another interesting literary event that young readers can benefit from analyzing is Jess’s evolution as a person, especially with regard to Terabithia’s changes.

It was Leslie who had taken him from the cow pasture into Terabithia and turned him into a king. He had thought that was it. Wasn’t king the best you could be? Now it occurred to him that perhaps Terabithia was like a castle where you came to be knighted. After you stayed for a while and grew strong you had to move on. For hadn’t Leslie, even in Terabithia, tried to push back the walls of his mind and make him see beyond to the shining world-huge and terrible and beautiful and very fragile?...Now it was time for him to move out (Paterson 160).

Jess is simply not the same person he was at the beginning of the book and what logically follows is that Terabithia is not the same place to him that it was. Concurrently, he must move out. A heavy handed indication of Jess’s transition occurs with his father near the entrance to Terabithia. His father begins, “‘Hell ain’t it?’ It was the kind of thing Jess could hear his father saying to another man. He found it strangely comforting, and it made him bold.” (Paterson 148). In the beginning, Jess’ father would barely speak a word to him. Jess relationship with his father has changed as well.
On the same note, children can benefit from seeing the method for entering Terabithia changing with Jess and with Terabithia’s significance to Jess. In the beginning, entering Terabithia involves a scary trip swinging across a river on a rope. In the end, Jess builds a bridge to Terabithia, changing one of its key characteristics and symbolizing the increased ease Jess has with accessing what he learned from Terabithia. In the end, Jess seeks to open Terabithia’s lessons to his younger sister, Joyce Ann. “And when he finished, he put flowers in [Joyce Ann’s] hair and led her across the bridge-the great bridge into Terabithia-which might look to someone with no magic in them like a few planks across a nearly dry gully…” Jess leads Joyce Ann into this kingdom of learning and evolution, a confident adolescent, just as the confident Leslie had done for him once. He has learned from Leslie, about himself and his insecurities, and about life, and can share these lessons with Joyce Ann.
Also valuable as classroom discussion is what parallels, if any, Leslie has with Jesus. Certainly a Christ archetype is present in many works and discussion of such can benefit students. As with so many literary elements, it is hard to say whether the author intended this parallel, but that idea is unimportant except to express it to the students. Leslie makes ambiguous comments at the beginning of the book about how she likes and dislikes the country. Jess is talking to her about her old home. “I really miss it.” She replies. “You must hate it here” (Patterson 41) he says. She says she does. “I wanted to come too” (Paterson 42) she says, talking of her parents’ decision to move. Her contradicting sentiments parallel Jesus’ experience in the garden of Gethsemane, where he asks god to save him from his impending crucifixion, but exclaims truly that he is glad to do it if it is God’s will. One could argue that her playing with the boys and running faster than them is analogous to Jesus’ miracles. Her challenging people’s interpretations of the Bible is another possible parallel. Also, Jess describes her arrival as “probably the biggest thing in his life” (Paterson 10). She dies as a result of coming, as a result of ultimately helping Jess transition from an insecure introspective adolescent into a more confident man. This is a weaker thematic element, and perhaps Paterson did not intend it, but its presence is something that may be discussed briefly in the classroom.
Someone unfamiliar with this book may think that these elements are too complex for younger readers; however, Paterson presents them expertly to a younger audience while engaging the students with a character they can relate to, Jess. He is constantly introspective, thinking not only about an issue, but on his thoughts on the issue too. He frequently wonders why he is thinking that way, leading him deeper and deeper into his mind. He has feelings for Ms. Edmund that he does not yet understand as well. The beginning of the book is hard focused on portraying Jess as having external suffering as well “Ever since he’d been in first grade he’d been that “ ‘crazy little kid that draws all the time’” (Paterson 4). The number of sentences used to portray this manner of suffering almost rivals his introspective lamentations, and establishes a character that many confused early adolescents can not help but identify with and cheer on. If this element commands girls’ attentions less, then Leslie’s charisma is more than enough to bridge the gap. The use of swear words helps to prevent children from resenting the book and closing their minds to it simply because children at that age are told not to swear. This book swears? Wow, that must be cool. I want to read on. And they do. And more importantly, they listen to what they are reading.
Bridge to Terabithia is not a book of separate literary elements, but rather elements that play beautifully and deftly together to create a complete literary work, one to help children transition to more complex literature and to make them think of new ideas. It should be staple of every early middle school English education regardless of objections that may be voiced against it. If this book is not on your child’s curriculum, it is worth your time to ask why and challenge such a decision. Afterwards, you and your child should read it together. You’ll both enjoy it.

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Jun 08, 2007 Res rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 31, 2008 Rob rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Kids who want their hearts broken.

Shelves: fiction

I just re-read the book before watching the movie. I'm sure I read it as a kid, but I'm reviewing this as an adult.

This book is sad. It's like My Girl. The characters are innocent and fun, and the world they create with their minds is playful. However, tragedies of this kind are not my thing. It seems that the point of the book is the tragedy, to have a boy's friend die. I'd rather spend my time reading something a little more up-beat.

I've said this before, I don't at all mind characters dying,...more

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Jun 04, 2007 thefourthvine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-teen

This is one of the books that taught me that Books Can Hurt. It was part of what I now consider to be my fourth grade teacher's reign of terror - she read Where the Red Fern Grows and Bridge to Terabithia out loud to us (and those are just the books I was in her class for), and I seriously think she did it for the days when, inevitably, the entire class would spend the afternoon weeping at our desks.

That said, though - and it needed to be said - this is a good book; it was so engaging to me at t...more

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Sep 02, 2008 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 06, 2012 Astraea rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jun 29, 2007 Aerin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens, americana

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 24, 2008 Katherine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Apr 23, 2008 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lines I loved:

Lark Creek was the backwash of fashion. It took them a long time to accept there what everyone could see by their TV’s was OK anywhere else.

It made Jess ache inside to watch his dad grab the little ones to his shoulder, or lean down and hug them. It seemed to him that he had been thought too big for that since the day he was born.

It was the beginning of a new season in his life, and he chose deliberately to make it so.

Gary Fulcher could go to you-know-where and warm his toes.

Even a...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Laurel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult

I enjoyed revisiting this childhood classic. I first read it at the recommendation of our local librarian when I was in 5th grade. I remember being a bit annoyed with her afterward because it made me cry. Hearing the story now 26 years later and knowing what to expect, I still got teary-eyed.

The audio version contains an interview with the author and her son, which I found quite interesting. Having first read the book at age 10, I didn't pay much attention to the dedication page. Apparently, tho...more

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Apr 01, 2008 Brandy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: children

Shelves: childrens, fantasy

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 slowl...more

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Apr 05, 2009 Joanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

The reason this did not get five stars from me was the teacher stereotypes once again. The two teachers were straight out of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: the old, sour, never smiles, hates her students teacher and the young, inspired, fine arts teacher that all the other teachers hate. Puleeze.

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 11, 2011 Kirk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

There are only two books that have made me cry. Granted, I was in sixth grade when I read this for the first time. But like most books I review on Goodreads, I sat down to read this again before posting my review. My sentiments about Bridge to Terabithia haven't changed much.

I don't remember a lot from my pre-teen years. Little fragments crop up from time to time when I see an old commercial on Youtube or I play an 8-bit classic on my Wii. This book I remember. And as I re-read it I started reca...more

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Oct 25, 2006 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Kids

Shelves: childrensbooks, fiction

Oh I loved this book too! Its so sweet, and sad and wonderful. I cried.

My teacher read it outloud in my 5th grade class and when the character died, I turned to the little boy next to me (I think his name was PJ Gaskill--I can't believe I remember this), and said, "That's not true is it?" and he looked at me with tears in his eyes and nodded. It was probably one of the first mature interactions I ever had with an "icky" boy.

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May 05, 2010 Sirpa Grierson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 08, 2008 Needleroozer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who wants to cry

Shelves: young-adult

I saw the movie before I read the book, so I knew that the ending would be SAD! I won't give it all away, but I wouldn't give this book to a kid younger than 13 or 14. And there is some heavy foreshadowing, so you can probably figure out what's going to happen before it takes place, even if you haven't seen the movie.

But I'm warning you...this book is SAD!

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 22, 2011 Thom rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Bridge to Terabithia -

I'm a grown man and I cried the duration of the last fifty pages. I gave this book five stars, here's why:

It is absolutely incredible that a writer can invent a character, and bring him to life so convincingly that we find some of our deepest emotions aroused when we read black words on a white page. I was amazed at how deeply I felt towards some the characters in this book...fictional characters!

Character development is absolutely masterful in Bridge to Terabithia. It is...more Bridge to Terabithia -

I'm a grown man and I cried the duration of the last fifty pages. I gave this book five stars, here's why:

It is absolutely incredible that a writer can invent a character, and bring him to life so convincingly that we find some of our deepest emotions aroused when we read black words on a white page. I was amazed at how deeply I felt towards some the characters in this book...fictional characters!

Character development is absolutely masterful in Bridge to Terabithia. It is easy to identify with both Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. They not only forge a friendship with each other that is profound, uplifting, and edifying - but they also forge that same friendship with you. I particularly enjoyed Jess's character - full of childlike reason, error, and love. I sometimes felt like he was my own child. It feels good to read him - especially within the last fifty pages.

The majority of the plot is gentle and accents the beauty of childhood, often embellishing it with innocent humor. While nothing is unimportant or uninteresting, the author very skillfully tells the story in such a way that it feels like "everyday life". Any suspense is usually trivial and very scarce, but the story remains very compelling and thoroughly enjoyable to read. (I have to say that a good writer should be able to tell a gripping story without the sometimes garish and seemingly mandatory thrill of suspense found so much in fiction.)

It seems heartless and depraved to say that I'm glad Kathrine Paterson and her son David were able to experience what they did (I can't think of a better way to say that without giving anything away.) - but I think Paterson gained some beautiful insight through that experience that she has used to help others, especially children - rather artfully I might add.

I need to mention one thing I wasn't particularly fond of. Janice Avery (a minor character) reveals to her friends that her father beats her - "the kind of beating they send you to jail for" says Leslie. And at the advice of Leslie, Janice decides to pretend that her father is innocent, and that her friends are just spreading "rumors" all over school. The author says something like "kids shouldn't ever betray their parents, and that's just what Janice Avery had done." See the contradiction? "Honour thy father and thy mother" - "Domestic abuse is wrong, no matter what". I don't think this kind of conflict belongs in a children's novel, even as a very minor vehicle for plot development. I wish the author had omitted that, or at least found an acceptable solution.

Notwithstanding its faults, I love this book. Read it, it's good for you.(less)

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Mar 20, 2013 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An incredibly nostalgic book all about the importance of friendship, compassion, and finding yourself. The characters were undeveloped as a whole, and the plot didn't get interesting until the end, but I loved Jesse and Leslie's adventures in Terabithia. They definitely resurfaced memories of my own childhood, and I am always grateful for any opportunities I get to relive those!

I'm not sure if I would recommend this to young readers. It does deal with more mature themes, which is usually a plus,...more

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Feb 25, 2013 luhvBOOKS ♫ I'm fighting for you ♫ ♪The battle is already won♪ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, school-books

Title: Bridge to Terabithia

Author: Katherine Paterson

Series: N/A

Rating: ★★★★☆

Summary: Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone. That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a m...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 13, 2011 Taralen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I am pleasantly surprised by this book. From the trailers and advertisements of the 2007 movie adaptation, I expected a poor imitation of C.S Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. Instead I am given a story that doesn't have any real magic so to speak, but the magic between two inseparable friends. I like how the “magic” in the story isn't explicit in detail, it keeps it more realistic. It makes me reminisce on my own childhood when I did similar antics with friends. To make it seem as if they reall...more

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Jun 16, 2010 Amanda (Cirque Du Freak Freak) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People 10 and up

Recommended to Amanda (Cirque Du Freak Freak) by: Saw the movie

Shelves: ages-9-12, books-that-are-made-into-movies, young-adult, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, 3-star-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In this book a boy Jess meets a girl Leslie who changes his life. The they creat the world of Terabithia, one day as Leslie is trying to swing on the rope to Terabithia she falls in the river and drowns. This book is not as good as the movie.

I also wanted to write in my review that the reason Katherine Paterson killed Leslie was because her son's friend died while on vacation from getting struck by lightning. Her son was only 8 so she had to find someway of explaining it to him, so she did the o...more

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Aug 30, 2008 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A novel for teenagers, won the Newbery medal 1977. A book about friendships in the 4th and 5th grades in a rural school somewhere in Virginia. A boy and girls become best friends despite harassment by other class members. They find a special place close to their houses called Terabithia. Fantasy, friendship, and tenderness. Delightful book that adults would enjoy. I liked the following quotation towards the end of the book: “It was Leslie who had taken him from the cow pasture into Terabithia an...more

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Apr 14, 2009 Polly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: advisory

Bridge to Terabithia is a touching story that reveals family, advanture and friendship. Jesse Arons lives in a family with four sisters so it was like the more takes over the less. He uses stuff his sisters pass down and even wear old shoes his sisters don’t want. He lived in a consider poor family. He has amazing artistic skill but a quiet and shy personality. When a neighbor of his moved in, he met Leslie the new girl which also in his school beats all the boys in running. They become best fr...more

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Apr 15, 2008 Yoke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 9th-books

The unlikely friendship between Jess and Leslie begins at school after they compete against each other in a school race. They are drawn together as friends because they both feel "different," and they come to respect and support each other's unique talents. Together they create an imaginary kingdom in the woods, called Terabithia. In Terabithia, where Jess is King and Leslie is Queen, they feel strong and free. They talk, share ideas, and have a lot of fun. For the first time, Jess dares to feel...more

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 30, 2008 Waffle...♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, inspirational, friendship, eighth-grade

Okay like... at the beginning, I thought it was an okay book... but when I came to the part when Leslie died, it made me cry :<. I accually never thought there was going to be a problem within the book and thought that it was just a kind of book that was a life lesson one, kinda boring but meaningful.. so it strucked me by surprise that she died! The way how the author described the book.. it was like I was Jess, losing the one thing that held him together... it hurts.. call me wierd, I don't...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read07, read-long-ago

A re-read from my childhood, because I wanted to read it again before seeing the movie. I am still curious to see what these huge fantastical creatures I see in the previews are like, because the way I read the book, the friends are simply pretending, not living in a fantasy world. To me, it's different. But we shall see. I still think this is the only book that has ever made me cry while reading it.

ETA: I can't believe I reviewed this without mentioning that my best friend and I created our own...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 27, 2008 Brad McMasters rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Brad by: Newberry

Shelves: juvenile, newberry

This 1978 Newberry Award winner tells the story of lonely fifth-grader Jesse Aarons who befriends a new girl Leslie Burke. Together they create a magical kingdom (Terabithia) of the woods near their home accessible only by rope swing. When Jesse is on a trip to the city with his beloved music teacher, Leslie visits Terabithia alone and dies after the rope swing breaks.

This is a beautifully written story that very thoughtfully deals with the subject of death and grieving. I also felt validated by...more

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Lisa C rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids, booklists

Aug 29, 2007 Silvercharmer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: young-adult

This, along with Where the Red Fern Grows, probably impacted me the most growing up. The really good books, regardless of genre or audience, make such an imprint on you that you can recall certain lines or moments with perfect clarity. This books so perfectly renders its characters, settings, and imagination of these two characters that it simply takes your breath away. As I recall, her prose is not flowery and ornate, but as plain and simple as Jess, and as life-changing as Leslie. It's the cla...more

5 likes · like · see review

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Banned?	121	813	Apr 22, 2013 04:36pm
Is there a reason behind the unisex names?	5	119	Mar 24, 2013 12:02pm
Why do the girls have to die?!?!	53	423	Feb 09, 2013 06:39am
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About Katherine Paterson

From author's website:

People are always asking me questions I don't have answers for. One is, "When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?" The fact is that I never wanted to be a writer, at least not when I was a child, or even a young woman. Today I want very much to be a writer. But when I was ten, I wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. When I was twenty, I wanted t...more From author's website:

People are always asking me questions I don't have answers for. One is, "When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?" The fact is that I never wanted to be a writer, at least not when I was a child, or even a young woman. Today I want very much to be a writer. But when I was ten, I wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. When I was twenty, I wanted to get married and have lots of children.

Another question I can't answer is, "When did you begin writing?" I can't remember. I know I began reading when I was four or five, because I couldn't stand not being able to. I must have tried writing soon afterward. Fortunately, very few samples of my early writing survived the eighteen moves I made before I was eighteen years old. I say fortunately, because the samples that did manage to survive are terrible, with the single exception of a rather nice letter I wrote to my father when I was seven. We were living in Shanghai, and my father was working in our old home territory, which at the time was across various battle lines. I missed him very much, and in telling him so, I managed a piece of writing I am not ashamed of to this day.

A lot has happened to me since I wrote that letter. The following year, we had to refugee a second time because war between Japan and the United States seemed inevitable. During World War II, we lived in Virginia and North Carolina, and when our family's return to China was indefinitely postponed, we moved to various towns in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, before my parents settled in Winchester, Virginia.

By that time, I was ready to begin college. I spent four years at King College in Bristol, Tennessee, doing what I loved best-reading English and American literature-and avoiding math whenever possible.

My dream of becoming a movie star never came true, but I did a lot of acting all through school, and the first writing for which I got any applause consisted of plays I wrote for my sixth-grade friends to act out.

On the way to becoming a missionary, I spent a year teaching in a rural school in northern Virginia, where almost all my children were like Jesse Aarons. I'll never forget that wonderful class. A teacher I once met at a meeting in Virginia told me that when she read Bridge to Terabithia to her class, one of the girls told her that her mother had been in that Lovettsville sixth grade. I am very happy that those children, now grown up with children of their own, know about the book. I hope they can tell by reading it how much they meant to me.

After Lovettsville, I spent two years in graduate school in Richmond, Virginia, studying Bible and Christian education; then I went to Japan. My childhood dream was, of course, to be a missionary to China and eat Chinese food three times a day. But China was closed to Americans in 1957, and a Japanese friend urged me to go to Japan instead. I remembered the Japanese as the enemy. They were the ones who dropped the bombs and then occupied the towns where I had lived as a child. I was afraid of the Japanese, and so I hated them. But my friend persuaded me to put aside those childish feelings and give myself a chance to view the Japanese in a new way.

If you've read my early books, you must know that I came to love Japan and feel very much at home there. I went to language school, and lived and worked in that country for four years. I had every intention of spending the rest of my life among the Japanese. But when I returned to the States for a year of study in New York, I met a young Presbyterian pastor who changed the direction of my life once again. We were married in 1962.

I suppose my life as a writer really began in 1964. The Presbyterian church asked me to write some curriculum materials for fifth- and sixth-graders. Since the church had given me a scholarship to study and I had married instead of going back to work in Japan, I felt I owed them something for their m(less)

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“It was up to him to pay back to the world in beauty and caring what Leslie had loaned him in vision and strength. ” — 74 people liked it

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Bridge To Terabithia

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