BOOK CRITIQUE

Hilberto Ortiz MelendezS00-29-4179

Prof. Evelyn LugoEnglish 126

Bridge to TerabithiaBy Katherine Paterson

Katherine Paterson

Katherine Paterson was born on October 31, 1932 in Jiangsu, China to Christian missionaries George and Mary Womeldorf. Her father was a principal at Sutton 690, a school for girls, and traveled throughout China as part of his missionary duties. The Womeldorf family lived in a Chinese neighborhood and immersed themselves in Chinese culture. When Katherine was five years old, the family was forced to leave China during the Japanese invasion of 1937. The family moved to Richmond, Virginia for a short while before returning to China to live in Shanghai.

Paterson's first language was Chinese, and she initially experienced difficulty reading and writing English. She overcame these challenges and, in 1954, graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English from King College in Bristol, Tennessee. She then spent a year teaching at a rural elementary school in Virginia before going to graduate school. She received a Master's degree from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (Richmond, VA), where she studied Bible and Christian education.

Paterson had hoped to be a missionary in China, but its borders were closed to western citizens. A Japanese friend pushed her to go to Japan instead, where she worked as a missionary and Christian education assistant. While in Japan, Paterson studied both Japanese and Chinese culture, which influenced much of her subsequent writing. After four years in Japan, Paterson traveled back to New York to pursue her second master’s degree in religious education.

It was there that she met Presbyterian minister Reverend John Paterson whom she married on July 14, 1962. The Patersons moved to Takoma Park, Maryland, where they had four children: John Barstow Jr., David Lord, Elizabeth Po Lin, and Mary Katherine. Paterson's daughters Elizabeth Po Lin and Mary Katherine were both adopted.

In Paterson's novels, her youthful protagonists face crises by which they learn to triumph through self-sacrifice. Paterson, unlike many other authors of young adult novels, tackles topics such as death and jealousy. Although her characters face dire situations, Paterson writes with compassion and empathy. Amidst her writing of misery and strife, Paterson interlaces her writing with wry wit and understated humor.

After facing tumultuous events, her characters prevail in triumph and redeem themselves and their ambitions. Paterson's protagonists are usually orphaned or estranged children with only a few friends who must face difficult situations largely on their own. Paterson's plots may reflect her own childhood in which she felt estranged and lonely.

Summary of the story

Jesse (a.k.a. Jess) Aarons, the only boy in a family of five children, lives in rural southwest Virginia. His mother favors his sisters Brenda, Ellie, May Belle, and Joyce Ann, while his father works in Washington D.C. and therefore spends little time with his children. May Belle, the second youngest sister, adores Jesse and admires him. Leslie Burke is an only child who moves from Arlington, VA to the same area as Jesse. Her parents, both writers, are wealthy.

Jess and Leslie soon become close friends. Jess shares his secret love of drawing with Leslie, and Leslie shares with Jess her love of fantasy stories. With this new friendship, the two children create an imaginary kingdom in the woods near their homes, accessible only by a rope swing over a creek. They create the imaginary kingdom of Terabithia of which they name themselves King and Queen, and they spend every day after school there. In Terabithia, they are able to face their fears of the real world, such as of the seventh grade bully Janice Avery.

Leslie gives Jess a drawing pad and a set of watercolors as a Christmas present, and Jess gives Leslie a dog whom she names Prince Terrien, or "P.T." for short. They consider P.T. to be the royal protector, prince of Terabithia and court jester.

Jesse has a crush on his young music teacher, Miss Edmunds, and would do anything to be with her. The central crisis occurs when Jesse accompanies Miss Edmunds to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and Leslie goes to Terabithia alone. The rope breaks as she is swinging over the rain-swollen creek. Though a good swimmer, Leslie falls into the creek and drowns. Jesse can overcome his grief only with the strength and courage that his friendship with Leslie had given him.

He attempts to deal with his grief by going back to Terabithia alone to make a memorial wreath for Leslie. During his ceremony, he hears a cry for help and finds May Belle caught in the midst of a fallen tree that she had been trying to use as a bridge across the creek. He helps her out of danger and rescues her.

Leslie's grief-stricken parents decide later to leave the area. As Mr. and Mrs. Burke are leaving, Jesse asks to take some of their wooden planks by their shed. They say he may have anything left in the house; thus permitted, he goes down to Terabithia to build a bridge. After he finishes the bridge, he takes May Belle over it and makes her the Queen of Terabithia. He realizes that while no one could ever replace Leslie, Terabithia must have a Queen and Leslie would agree.

The End