Bridge to Terabithia

by Katherine Paterson

Jess drew the way some people drink whiskey. The peace would start at the top of his muddled brain and seep down through his tired and tensed-up body.

Leslie named their secret land “Terabithia,” and she loaned Jess all of her books about Narnia, so he would know how things went in a magic kingdom—how the animals and the trees must be protected and how a ruler must behave.

Leslie was one of those people who sat quietly at her desk, never whispering or daydreaming or chewing gum, doing beautiful schoolwork, and yet her brain was so full of mischief that if the teacher could have once seen through that mask of perfection, she would have thrown her out in horror.

friend. She was his other, more exciting self—his way to Terabithia and all the worlds beyond.

Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any direction, and it was blown to bits.

Sometimes like the Barbie doll you need to give people something that’s for them, not just something that makes you feel good giving it.

It was Leslie who had taken him from the cow pasture into Terabithia and turned him into a king.

Now it was time for him to move out. She wasn’t there, so he must go for both of them. It was up to him to pay back to the world in beauty and caring what Leslie had loaned him in vision and strength.

you just have to stand up to your fear and not let it squeeze you white.

And when he finished, he put flowers in her hair and led her across the bridge—the great bridge into Terabithia—which

There’s a rumor going around that the beautiful girl arriving today might be the queen they’ve been waiting for.”