Bridge to Terabithia is a book of children's fiction written by Katherine Paterson. It was first published in 1977, and won the Newbery Medal in 1978. It tells the story of Jesse Aarons, and his friendship with newly arrived next-door-neighbour Leslie Burke, a friendship which teaches them both much about the world - and gives Jesse the strength to survive its tragic end.

Jess is the only boy in a family of five children. His mother seems to favor his sisters, and his father works in a distant city and doesn't have much time for him. Leslie's family has just moved to this area in an attempt to start a new life. (The book is set in the 1970's, a time when many people were looking for a simpler lifestyle.) Both children are loners who don't fit in with their peers at school: Jess in intensely interested in art, and Leslie's family shuns religion, and doesn't even own a television set. The two outsiders soon become close friends. Together, they create an imaginary kingdom in the woods near their homes, accessible only by a rope swing over a creek, that they name "Terabithia." They crown themselves King and Queen, and spend many hours there.

The central crisis of the novel occurs when Jess accompanies a teacher to an art show in Washington D.C., and Leslie goes to Terabithia alone. The rope breaks as she is swinging over the rain-swollen creek, and she drowns. Jess finds out about the accident when he returns from his trip. Jess can only overcome his grief with the strength and courage that his friendship with Leslie has given him.

The plot of the book originated in real-life experiences. When Katherine Peterson's son was a child, his close friend Lisa Hill was killed by lightning. Paterson wrote the book while coming to terms with this loss.

The novel is one of the most banned and challenged books of the 1990s, due largely to death being a part of the plot, Jess's frequent use of the word "Lord" outside of prayer, and concerns that the book promotes secular humanism and New Age religions.

References

• Hardcover edition (ISBN 0-690-01359-0)