Bridge to Terabithia in Pick-a-Shelf

Apr 30, 2018 Madge rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, middle-grade-children, three-and-a-half-stars

Not a review, just a babble.

I know, I'm seriously in the minority with my rating of this book. Even back in 2nd-6th grades, it seemed like everyone I knew was either reading, re-reading, or talking/sobbing about this books pretty regularly. I remember being in the library with my bff in 3rd or 4th grade, and this was her favorite book (tied with Bunnicula) and I'd never read it. She found it, handed it to me and I tried to read it. I gave it I think two chapters before I couldn't stand it anymor Not a review, just a babble.

I know, I'm seriously in the minority with my rating of this book. Even back in 2nd-6th grades, it seemed like everyone I knew was either reading, re-reading, or talking/sobbing about this books pretty regularly. I remember being in the library with my bff in 3rd or 4th grade, and this was her favorite book (tied with Bunnicula) and I'd never read it. She found it, handed it to me and I tried to read it. I gave it I think two chapters before I couldn't stand it anymore and lied to my bff, promising her I'd read it later because I just wasn't in the mood for it right then. I didn't have the heart to tell her I thought her favorite/second favorite book was unbearably boring.

Fast forward almost 20 years, and I finally read it. And I'm glad I read it as an adult because there were things in it that would have made me uncomfortable back then that I didn't have to life experience and perspective to help me put the feelings into words. I won't ramble on about that because it's basically about how terrible kids can be.

Back to the book, though. I related a lot more to both of these kids than I thought I would, when I compare myself at that age to them. These two kids could have been me and my bestie. Which is the terrifying thing about this book for me. I have swung across a creek, both on ropes and vines. I've seen the small trickles turn thundering and destructive in a matter of hours. Basically, there were a lot of stupid things I did with my friends, or alone, that probably could have killed me and now I'm even happier I never read this when I was a kid because I would have missed out on a lot of fun.

I think I can see why my friend wanted me to read this. I was the new kid in 3rd grade, when we met. She didn't have many friends, and she was my only friend for quite a while. I loved running and was pretty fast back then. We (my friend and I) had our own imaginary realm in the woods behind her house and we totally would have built something out there if we'd had access to the materials.

But I just didn't love this book. I think I liked it more now than I would have back then, but it's definitely not making any favorites lists for me. I had a hard time getting into it, and I think I only pushed through and finished because it was so short. That said, I'm not sure if I'll suggest it to my kid or not. If my kid ever finds it at the library or bookstore and wants to read it, I'll be fine with that, but I'm not sure I'll recommend it.

I knew going into this that it was supposed to be really sad, and I thought I knew why but I wasn't sure until I got to that part. I did end up tearing up for Jess, but not ugly crying like a lot of people seemed to have. Maybe if I'd read it not being 99% sure I knew (view spoiler), I would have also ugly cried. ...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Susan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

A large number of readers have shelved this as fantasy, but I just don't see it. To me, it's a sweet, simple, realistic story about young Jess and his new best friend Leslie, and the ways they help each other cope with their lives. I think I actually would've enjoyed the book more if I'd known that up front -- I kept wondering when the fantasy part would kick in. And I kept waiting for the "bridge" of the title -- it doesn't happen until near the end, but when it does, it brings the whole story ...more

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