Bridge To Terabithia, where do I even begin with this book? I found it by accident in the library at my elementary school (the KY one instead of the AZ one). I had been looking for something else entirely and found Bridge To Terabithia instead. I was always the last kid out of the library so I had to hurry because the rest of my class was waiting on me. So I grabbed it and took it home and proceeded to have my entire world wrecked. I think I read it four times in the week I had it.
I’ll try to explain a little more about that without getting into massive spoiler territory for anyone who hasn’t read it. Bridge To Terabithia is a book about the power of imagination. It is also a coming of age story. Our protagonist is a boy kind of stuck, wanting something else, something different, but not necessarily having the ability to change much right now. There’s a multitude of reasons for it. His family isn’t that well off and he’s got at least four sisters that are named in the text. There are expectations he’s supposed to meet.
And then he meets the force of nature that is his new neighbor and there’s all of a sudden light at the end of the tunnel that he can almost reach. There’s a glimmer of hope that he’s able to see. That he doesn’t maybe have to stay stuck, that it’s actually possible to get out.
That was really important to kid me.
Coming back to this book as a grown-up, I also love that it emphasizes that once you get out, you reach a hand down and pull up others who are looking to make their own way out and free. All in all, there’s a bittersweet magical quality to the book that leaves you a bit different after you read it.