This children’s novel follows two ten-year-old outsiders at a poor, rural Virginia school as they encounter the liberating force of friendship, the pleasures of the imagination, the benefits of nonconformity, and the shocking fragility of life. Paterson tells the story from the perspective of a lonely boy, Jesse Aarons, unfairly regarded by the others at his school as that “crazy little kid that draws all the time” (

4). Jess is, in fact, a fairly typical fifth-grader, eager for approval and uneasy with his sense of himself. He gets little support or understanding from his family, which includes two self-absorbed older sisters, an inconveniently worshipful younger sister, a baby, a harried and unsympathetic mother, and an emotionally remote father who regards Jess’s interest…

1464 words

Citation: Burke, Richard C. . "Bridge to Terabithia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 March 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=32956, accessed 22 November 2024.]