Bridge to Terabithia (novel)

Bridge to Terabithia (Original Title: Bridge to Terabithia ) is a children's and youth book of American author Katherine Paterson. The first edition of the drama with illustrations by Donna Diamond appeared in the original language in 1977. In German language the work was first published in 1981 in the edition Sven Bergh translation by Ursula von Wiese. This edition was the German title of the bridge to the other country. As part of the DVD release of the newest movie adaptation of the novel, the publisher Ravensburger brought on 1 September 2007 issued a new edition of the novel with the literally translated title The Bridge to Terabithia. For this edition, the book by Vanessa Walder was recompiled.

For Bridge to Terabithia Paterson was among others in 1978 awarded the Newbery Medal.

Content

Jess Aarons is a bit shy and dreamy outsider, who lives as the only boy in a large family with four sisters and therefore does not have an easy time. His mother Nancy is often at the limits of their endurance and his father Jack is constantly away on business and has little time for his children. To prove his classmates that he has something on it, Jess trained all summer for an important race. However, this race wins just a girl Leslie Burke, which is redrawn as an only child with her parents in the neighborhood of Jess.

Because of his defeat in the race Jess Leslie can not stand first. But Leslie is open-minded and wins Jess ' heart. Through their exuberant imagination Jess impresses and stimulates his creativity and his most secret passion for painting on. The two quickly become good friends, as well as Leslie is at the new school an outsider. They spend their afternoons in a nearby forest, where they invent the fantasy realm " Terabithia ", which can only be achieved if you swing on an old rope over a small river. In order to process the often adverse situations in school and family life better, they imagine that they have power over Terabithia as king and queen, and must be made in the fight against powerful trolls.

One day Jess knowingly decides against Leslie, when his music teacher, Miss Edmunds, in which he has a crush secretly invites him to go with her to Washington together and there to visit the National Art Gallery. Since Jess extremely interested in that art, he accepts the offer. While he is staying with his teacher in Washington, Leslie tries to get alone to Terabithia. Since a terrible accident happens: The rope breaks, the girl falls and dies very difficult due to their severe head injury.

Jess is very sad and has great guilt. It takes a long time to process the death of his girlfriend. The strength and the courage that gives it its deep friendship with Leslie, it eventually manages to overcome his grief. With boards from the house of the Burkes, who are gone out again, he builds for himself and his little sister May Belle a bridge to Terabithia.

Background

The idea for her book came to the author after a tragic accident. A good friend of her son David had died of a lightning strike in August 1974, and Paterson, wondering how they could help their child cope with this loss.

They then devised a plot in which the main character is faced with a similar situation. As they repeatedly had fantasy elements included in her books, she sat this one even with the bridge to the other country. Through the power of imagination and the deep friendship for his deceased comrade Leslie the Roman hero can finally overcome his feelings of guilt and sadness. This confrontation with death is also found in later works of the author. She believes that children should also be confronted with this issue.

In the preface the author writes that they at first only her son had dedicated the book, but he begged to continue a Leslie's name next to it, after he had read the story.

The name of the Imaginative Terabithia is a reference to the fantasy book series The Chronicles of Narnia by British author CS Lewis, the Paterson very underestimated. In it several times an island is mentioned with the similar name " Terebinthia ". In the novel "Bridge to Terabithia " Leslie is the Chronicles of Narnia her boyfriend Jess than reading, so he can learn how to behave as a king.

The book belongs in the United States to the meistgeliehenen books in the period between 1990 and 2000 and is often used in English-speaking countries in the classroom.

Films

The novel has been filmed twice: