It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Bridge to Terabithia has finally come to an end! I have to say this book took me longer than I expected, but it was worth it. I had previously given a summary of what the book was all about; but this was only when I had just read the first two chapters.

Jess Aarons, a fifth grade boy could not wait for school to start. He had been running the whole summer hoping to be the number one runner at recess. His summer was long and boring, as he spent most of it taking care of Miss Bessie, the cow. One day, he noticed a moving van in the old Perkins house. Who knew this was going to change his life. That is exactly what happened, everything changed for him the one day he saw Leslie, his new neighbor. She was also in fifth grade and ended up in his classroom. As time went by, they became friends, especially, after that one day when Leslie and Wayne Pettis, Jess’ rival, ran against each other and she won. It did take a few days before Jess gave himself an opportunity to become Leslie’s friend. However, once they started talking to each other and hanging out together, they became inseparable.

Life was kind of boring for the two friends, and since Leslie had such a great imagination, she came up with the great idea of “creating Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as kind and queen, and their imagination set the only limits.” These helped Jess see life from a different perspective, he did not care what other people would say, as long as he was with his dear friend.

One day, unexpectedly everything changed! As Jess came back from his trip from Washington, he learned that his best friend, Leslie, had fallen off the rope they used to swing from one side of the river to get to their “kingdom.” This tragic event changed his life, but in the long run, he knew Leslie had changed his life for good.

This was such a great book and highly do recommend it, especially, since it is a John Newbery Medal award book. I believe this book is appropriate for an advanced fourth grader and/or a fifth grader. The book does have a few black and white illustrations through out the book to help the students better comprehend their reading. I love the fact that this book has several questions at the end of the book. These are great because teacher and students can conduct literature circle questions.