Summary Of A Bridge To Terabithia
A Bridge to Terabithia
Katherine Paterson was born in 1932, in China. She was the daughter of missionaries. She and her family left China during World War II when Manchuria was invaded. They moved to various towns on the East coast of North America, finally settling in Winchester, Virginia. Paterson studied Bible and Christian education at King College in Bristol, TN. After she finished grad school she moved to Japan. While in Japan she met John Paterson, a Presbyterian minister, whom she eventually married. They moved to New York after the wedding. Over the years they had 4 children, two of which they adopted. Her son David, eight years old at the time, became friends with a little girl named Lisa Hill. Lisa was struck by lightning and was …show more content…
fatally injured.
David was devastated. Paterson wrote Bridge to Terabithia to help them work through their pain. This book was written in the late 1970s, in Lark Creek. The two main characters in this book are Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke. Jess is a fifth grade boy at Lark Creek Elementary. Jess loves to draw and paint, but when he showed his father some of his work, his father was afraid of this characteristic, which Jess’s father viewed as somewhat feminine. His family wanted him to get the chores done, and to be a “young man”. Everyone at school wanted him to be an athlete, a “tough guy”, but instead he was sensitive. He lives in a house of four sisters, and his mother and father. So when he saw a moving van next door, he was hoping a boy his age would be moving in. So naturally he was a little disappointed when a little girl interrupted his morning run. That little girl is Leslie Burke. Leslie is a smart, creative, outgoing girl, but even more so she is outgoing.
She was different. Her parents were very educated and well off. Leslie had been shown a world that many of the students at Lark Creek had never seen. She moved from the city. Her parents were easy going people. Leslie’s parents were both writers. Though they were not always the most attentive, they had time for her when she needed to talk to them or just spend time with them. They always supported her, no matter what Leslie wanted to do. Jess’s parents wanted Jess to just be a normal fifth grader. One who didn’t like the girls, and liked football “boy stuff”. They weren’t particularly fond of Leslie because she was so different. Even though Leslie and Jess were almost exact opposites, they turned out to be perfect friends. Leslie seemed fearless, Jess was more timid. Jess admires that, but in a way it makes Jess jealous. He wishes he could be more like her. The story begins with Jess waking up and doing his morning chores. It is summer time but almost time for school to start. Jess loves to run, and strives to be the fastest kid in fifth grade next year. So every morning he wakes up and runs. May Belle, Jess’s younger sister informs him that a new family is moving in next door. Next we meet Miss Edmunds, Jess’s music teacher, and the only person who appreciates Jess’s art. When Jess goes out to do the milking that afternoon he meets Leslie Burke, his new neighbor. The next day at the first day of school, Jess sees Leslie in class. Already she is being gossiped about because she wore jeans and a t-shirt, when everyone else was in their “Sunday best”. Jess was excited about recess today because it would hold the first race of the year, the first chance he would have to prove he is the fastest kid in the fifth grade. Recess rolls around, and Leslie makes her way to the “boys’ side” of the playground. She decides to run in the race, and wins by a long shot. This disappoints Jess. Leslie continues to run in the races day after day. So what Jess has looked forward to all summer seems pointless now. Now the only thing he has to look forward to is Miss Edmunds visit to the school every Friday. It is in her class Jess will realize that his avoiding Leslie is completely silly and decides to befriend her. Leslie sits by Jess on the bus and on the way home he learns that Leslie comes from a big town, and her parents are very wealthy. Jess and Leslie spent the next afternoon together. They decide to spend their afternoon swinging on an old rope across the creek in the backs of their houses. It was there Leslie suggests that she and Jess need a place for themselves. They build their magical land across the creek; Leslie named their secret city Terabithia. Jess’s two older sisters tease him constantly about his “girl-friend”. Time goes on and one day May Belle brags across the bus that her father gave her some Twinkies for lunch. Well the school bully, Janice Avery takes them from her. May Belle turns to Jess and Leslie for help. So Jess and Leslie meet in Terabithia to decide how to get revenge on Janice. They decide to write a letter to Janice, from the boy every girl in seventh grade has a crush on, Willard Hughes. Janice reads the letter and flaunts it around. The letter says that Willard would like to meet her after school and walk her home. Janice falls for it and Willard obviously doesn’t show. Christmas is coming, and Jess has no idea what to get Leslie. So when he sees a sign that says “FREE PUPPIES”, he is absolutely thrilled. Leslie is so excited about her gift. She names it Prince Terrain. Leslie gets him a paint set. Mr. Burke decides to renovate the Burke home. Leslie spends a lot of time helping out. So when Leslie notices how lonely and miserable Jess is, she confronts him and asks him to help with the house. Well after a month of renovating the house, Leslie and Jess return to Terabithia. Jess later finds out that May Belle had followed them there. Jess makes her promise not to tell anyone, and never to follow him again. Now it is time for Easter, Jess invites Leslie to come with his family to church on Easter Sunday. After the service Leslie tells Jess and May Belle she thought the story of Jesus was beautiful. But she didn’t believe that God would send people to hell. May Belle is very scared. She tells Leslie she will go to hell if she doesn’t believe the Bible. When they leave the service it is raining, it rained for days. Jess and Leslie decide to go to Terabithia anyways. They notice the water in the creek getting higher and higher with every day. Jess is scared to swing across but Leslie as usual is fearless. The next day May Belle tells Jess he has a phone call. It is Miss Edmunds, asking if Jess would like to go to the art museum in Washington D.C. with her. Jess is delighted that Miss Edmunds is asking him. So while his mother is still half asleep, he runs in her room and asks her. Before she has a chance to answer, he runs off. On the way there, he starts to feel guilty for not inviting Leslie, or at least telling her where he is going. But he decides it will be okay. Jess and Miss Edmunds have a wonderful day together, but when he gets back to his house, he immediately senses something wrong. The whole family looks at him when he enters the room. His mother breaks down and one of his older sisters informed him that Leslie had died earlier that day. Apparently, Leslie had tried to swing to Terabithia but the rope had broken and she had fallen and hit her head and had drowned. Jess accuses his whole family of lying and runs out of the house, and keeps running. The next day, Jess and his father go over to the Burkes and pay their respects. Leslie’s father asks Jess to take care of Prince Terrain while he and his wife go on a trip to Pennsylvania. Jess decides the next morning to go down to Terabithia. The Burkes move out of the house a few days later and give Jess anything that they left in the house. Jess found some wood in the back of the house. He decides to use it to build a bridge to Terabithia. The main theme the author of this paper found was friendship. It seemed like Jess was miserable whenever Leslie wasn’t around. Leslie taught Jess so much. She taught him to be himself, not what everyone else wanted him to be. She taught him to be proud of himself. When Jess brought Leslie to church Easter Sunday, she discovered her desire for spirituality. Leslie and Jess made each other stronger through their friendship.
Katherine Paterson was born in 1932, in China. She was the daughter of missionaries. She and her family left China during World War II when Manchuria was invaded. They moved to various towns on the East coast of North America, finally settling in Winchester, Virginia. Paterson studied Bible and Christian education at King College in Bristol, TN. After she finished grad school she moved to Japan. While in Japan she met John Paterson, a Presbyterian minister, whom she eventually married. They moved to New York after the wedding. Over the years they had 4 children, two of which they adopted. Her son David, eight years old at the time, became friends with a little girl named Lisa Hill. Lisa was struck by lightning and was …show more content…
fatally injured.
David was devastated. Paterson wrote Bridge to Terabithia to help them work through their pain. This book was written in the late 1970s, in Lark Creek. The two main characters in this book are Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke. Jess is a fifth grade boy at Lark Creek Elementary. Jess loves to draw and paint, but when he showed his father some of his work, his father was afraid of this characteristic, which Jess’s father viewed as somewhat feminine. His family wanted him to get the chores done, and to be a “young man”. Everyone at school wanted him to be an athlete, a “tough guy”, but instead he was sensitive. He lives in a house of four sisters, and his mother and father. So when he saw a moving van next door, he was hoping a boy his age would be moving in. So naturally he was a little disappointed when a little girl interrupted his morning run. That little girl is Leslie Burke. Leslie is a smart, creative, outgoing girl, but even more so she is outgoing.
She was different. Her parents were very educated and well off. Leslie had been shown a world that many of the students at Lark Creek had never seen. She moved from the city. Her parents were easy going people. Leslie’s parents were both writers. Though they were not always the most attentive, they had time for her when she needed to talk to them or just spend time with them. They always supported her, no matter what Leslie wanted to do. Jess’s parents wanted Jess to just be a normal fifth grader. One who didn’t like the girls, and liked football “boy stuff”. They weren’t particularly fond of Leslie because she was so different. Even though Leslie and Jess were almost exact opposites, they turned out to be perfect friends. Leslie seemed fearless, Jess was more timid. Jess admires that, but in a way it makes Jess jealous. He wishes he could be more like her. The story begins with Jess waking up and doing his morning chores. It is summer time but almost time for school to start. Jess loves to run, and strives to be the fastest kid in fifth grade next year. So every morning he wakes up and runs. May Belle, Jess’s younger sister informs him that a new family is moving in next door. Next we meet Miss Edmunds, Jess’s music teacher, and the only person who appreciates Jess’s art. When Jess goes out to do the milking that afternoon he meets Leslie Burke, his new neighbor. The next day at the first day of school, Jess sees Leslie in class. Already she is being gossiped about because she wore jeans and a t-shirt, when everyone else was in their “Sunday best”. Jess was excited about recess today because it would hold the first race of the year, the first chance he would have to prove he is the fastest kid in the fifth grade. Recess rolls around, and Leslie makes her way to the “boys’ side” of the playground. She decides to run in the race, and wins by a long shot. This disappoints Jess. Leslie continues to run in the races day after day. So what Jess has looked forward to all summer seems pointless now. Now the only thing he has to look forward to is Miss Edmunds visit to the school every Friday. It is in her class Jess will realize that his avoiding Leslie is completely silly and decides to befriend her. Leslie sits by Jess on the bus and on the way home he learns that Leslie comes from a big town, and her parents are very wealthy. Jess and Leslie spent the next afternoon together. They decide to spend their afternoon swinging on an old rope across the creek in the backs of their houses. It was there Leslie suggests that she and Jess need a place for themselves. They build their magical land across the creek; Leslie named their secret city Terabithia. Jess’s two older sisters tease him constantly about his “girl-friend”. Time goes on and one day May Belle brags across the bus that her father gave her some Twinkies for lunch. Well the school bully, Janice Avery takes them from her. May Belle turns to Jess and Leslie for help. So Jess and Leslie meet in Terabithia to decide how to get revenge on Janice. They decide to write a letter to Janice, from the boy every girl in seventh grade has a crush on, Willard Hughes. Janice reads the letter and flaunts it around. The letter says that Willard would like to meet her after school and walk her home. Janice falls for it and Willard obviously doesn’t show. Christmas is coming, and Jess has no idea what to get Leslie. So when he sees a sign that says “FREE PUPPIES”, he is absolutely thrilled. Leslie is so excited about her gift. She names it Prince Terrain. Leslie gets him a paint set. Mr. Burke decides to renovate the Burke home. Leslie spends a lot of time helping out. So when Leslie notices how lonely and miserable Jess is, she confronts him and asks him to help with the house. Well after a month of renovating the house, Leslie and Jess return to Terabithia. Jess later finds out that May Belle had followed them there. Jess makes her promise not to tell anyone, and never to follow him again. Now it is time for Easter, Jess invites Leslie to come with his family to church on Easter Sunday. After the service Leslie tells Jess and May Belle she thought the story of Jesus was beautiful. But she didn’t believe that God would send people to hell. May Belle is very scared. She tells Leslie she will go to hell if she doesn’t believe the Bible. When they leave the service it is raining, it rained for days. Jess and Leslie decide to go to Terabithia anyways. They notice the water in the creek getting higher and higher with every day. Jess is scared to swing across but Leslie as usual is fearless. The next day May Belle tells Jess he has a phone call. It is Miss Edmunds, asking if Jess would like to go to the art museum in Washington D.C. with her. Jess is delighted that Miss Edmunds is asking him. So while his mother is still half asleep, he runs in her room and asks her. Before she has a chance to answer, he runs off. On the way there, he starts to feel guilty for not inviting Leslie, or at least telling her where he is going. But he decides it will be okay. Jess and Miss Edmunds have a wonderful day together, but when he gets back to his house, he immediately senses something wrong. The whole family looks at him when he enters the room. His mother breaks down and one of his older sisters informed him that Leslie had died earlier that day. Apparently, Leslie had tried to swing to Terabithia but the rope had broken and she had fallen and hit her head and had drowned. Jess accuses his whole family of lying and runs out of the house, and keeps running. The next day, Jess and his father go over to the Burkes and pay their respects. Leslie’s father asks Jess to take care of Prince Terrain while he and his wife go on a trip to Pennsylvania. Jess decides the next morning to go down to Terabithia. The Burkes move out of the house a few days later and give Jess anything that they left in the house. Jess found some wood in the back of the house. He decides to use it to build a bridge to Terabithia. The main theme the author of this paper found was friendship. It seemed like Jess was miserable whenever Leslie wasn’t around. Leslie taught Jess so much. She taught him to be himself, not what everyone else wanted him to be. She taught him to be proud of himself. When Jess brought Leslie to church Easter Sunday, she discovered her desire for spirituality. Leslie and Jess made each other stronger through their friendship.