Bridge+to+Terabithia

Complete a story pot map. || Start movie || = = =Major Characters=
 * Day 1 ||  || read Author Biography and answer questions about the passage. ||   ||
 * Day 2 ||  || Focus Activity: Make a web listing in which ways teachers can have a powerful and positive influence on their students. Use your own experiences, as well as your imagination, to come up with examples. ||
 * ||  || Conflict: internal vs external ||
 * ||  || dialect ||
 * Day 3 ||  || Read Chapter 1 in whole group. ||
 * Day 4 ||  || Read Historical Context ||
 * Day 5 ||  || Read Chapter 2 with a partner. ||   ||
 * Day 6 ||  || Read Chapter 3 individually. ||   ||
 * Day 7 ||  || Complete Character Map for Jess Aarons. ||   ||
 * Day 8 ||  || Read Chapter 4 ||
 * Day 9 ||  || Finish reading chapter 4 and do comprehension questions Chapters 1-4. ||
 * Day 10 ||  || Read Chapter individually. ||
 * Day 11 ||  || Read Chapter 6 in whole group. ||
 * Day 12 ||  || Read Chapter 7 with a partner ||
 * Day 13 ||  || Read Chapters 8 and 9 individually ||
 * Day 14 ||  || Complete Comprehension questions for Chapters 5-9. ||
 * Day 15 ||  || Read Chapter 10 in whole group. ||
 * Day 16 ||  || Read Chapters 11 & 12 with a partner. ||
 * Day 17 ||  || Read Chapter 13 individually.
 * Day 18 ||  || Complete questions for Chapters 10 -13.
 * Day 19 ||  || Watch movie ||   ||
 * Day 20 ||  || Watch movie ||   ||
 * Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr.** - The main character and protagonist of the novel. Jess is a fifth-grader living in a rural Southern area. He is lonely and lost in the middle of a family of four girls when Leslie Burke moves in next door. Leslie and Jess become best friends, and the novel centers on their friendship. Jess is a budding artist whose talent receives little praise from anyone except Leslie and Miss Edmunds. Yet he is quite talented, as well as intelligent, caring, and down- to-earth. A thoroughly likable character, we are quickly drawn into his world and his personal tribulations.

**Leslie Burke** - Jess's new next-door neighbor and best friend. Highly intelligent and imaginative, it is her idea to build a fantasyland named Terabithia across the creek. Leslie's family is affluent and well educated, in stark contrast with the rest of the residents in the area, and has an entirely different slant on life than any of the neighbors. All this influences Leslie as well and helps to develop her uniqueness and distinct flair.Read an in-depth analysis of Leslie Burke.

**Mrs. Aarons** - Jess's mother. Mrs. Aarons is tired and careworn with the stresses of trying to support a family of seven on a poor family's income. She always seems to be hounding Jess to do chores or milk the cow, but her shortness of temper is merely a result of overwork. After Leslie's death, she shows herself to be a caring mother torn apart by her son's pain. Nevertheless, under normal circumstances she does not help to make Jess's home life inviting or comfortable.

**Mr. Aarons** - Jess's father. Mr. Aarons is likewise harried by the concerns of being the sole breadwinner for a large family. He rarely has time for Jess, which is hard on the boy. He wants to do the right thing by his son, but he isn't quite sure how; the irony is that all he would really need to do would be to sit down with Jess, ruffle his hair, and talk with him about his day, but he doesn't seem to understand this. He expects Jess to be a "man," a source of considerable heartache and soul-searching on the part of Jess, whose passions lie elsewhere than playing football and driving big trucks. However, he is concerned with his son's welfare and wants nothing but the best for him, as is evidenced in his treatment of Jess after Leslie's death.

**Ellie** - Jess's oldest sister. Her age is never given directly, but we can guess that she's about fifteen or sixteen. Ellie is thoroughly spoiled, much like Brenda, the difference between them is that Ellie has mastered the art of sycophancy, and consequently leaves a much better taste in most people's mouths. Vain, conceited, and shallow, Ellie continually annoys Jess.

**Brenda** - Jess's second-oldest sister. We can surmise that she is around fourteen. Brenda is even more annoying than Ellie. She shares Ellie's vanity and shallowness, but she whines continually and has no sense of when to stop before pushing people too far. She harries Jess continually, and is primly content with her own little world of makeup, scanty clothing, and romantic interests. Even after Leslie's death, Brenda will not stop harassing Jess. She is wholly immature and self-absorbed.

**May Belle Aarons** - Jess's little sister. May Belle is closer to him than any other member of their family. She is six and a bit lost, and she is without close friends or siblings close enough in age to play with. She often tries to push herself in with Jess and Leslie, which they do not like, but all the same Jess feels bad for her. At the end of the novel, it is she who allows Terabithia to live on, as she becomes its new queen.

**Joyce Ann** - Jess's youngest sister, at four years old. Joyce Ann is not developed very much as a character. She is often portrayed as whiny, but she is only four. Jess does not share the same bond with her that he does with May Belle, but he seems to feel a certain warmth toward her, as is evidenced by the end of the book, when he suggests that in time, Joyce Ann may join May Belle in Terabithia as a princess.

**Miss Edmunds** - The music teacher at the school. Jess is deeply in puppy love with her. She seems a creature from another world to him, a beautiful woman with a beautiful look and a smile for all the students, but especially Jess. She encourages his artistic talent, one of the two people in the world, including Leslie, who does, and seems to care about him in a special way. She is somewhat of a hippie, which only deepens her allure for Jess, because it confirms her individuality and separation from the narrow world of Lark Creek. Kind and caring, it is no mystery why Jess adores her, as she seems to fill a void of affection and compassion that he does not get from his family. **Mr. Burke** - Leslie's father. He is a political writer who is extremely gifted intellectually but rather scatterbrained. Leslie's growing friendship with Bill disturbs Jess until Leslie invites him to spend time with them as well.

**Mrs. Burke** - Leslie's mother. Judy writes novels and seems to spend most of her time closed in her room with her typewriter going. Not that she neglects Leslie, but she just seems busier than Mr. Burke. All in all, Leslie's parents lavish on her the love and attention that is not demonstrated clearly in Jess's house.

**Janice Avery** - A seventh-grader who is the school bully. Janice terrorizes May Belle, as well as the rest of the younger kids, until Jess and Leslie find a way of getting back at her. However, Janice is not an ultimate demon; she has her own problems that lend her an aspect of sympathy. Her father abuses her, and when her friends blab her secrets to the entire school, her tough-girl persona snaps. It is Leslie who comforts her, at Jess's urging, forming an unlikely friendship between them.

=Plot= Jess Aarons is an eleven-year-old boy living in a rural area of the South who loves to run. He dreams of being the fastest boy in the fifth grade when school starts up in the fall, feeling that this will for once give him a chance to stand in the spotlight among his five sisters, and might win him the attention of his preoccupied father. Jess is quite insecure in his identity. He loves to paint and draw, but he knows very well that this labels him a "sissy" in the eyes of most of the world, particularly his father. In addition, his family is stretched so tight by poverty that he has little chance to really explore his own identity during this crucial period of adolescence. He has therefore built up the importance of winning in his mind, feeling that here, at least, is something that he is good at which won't win him an undesired label of "sissy" or "girl" in the eyes of his father or schoolmates, and which will allow him to shine in his own right. He practices each morning, always dreaming of his upcoming victory. However, when the races come around at recess, a new girl, Leslie Burke, who just moved next door to Jess, boldly crosses to the boys' side of the playground and beats everyone.

A rather unpromising beginning, but Jess and Leslie become fast friends. They build a secret fantasyland across the creek in the woods, called Terabithia, where they play all the time. There they forget the rest of the world, such as the kids at school or Jess's less-than-satisfactory family. The time they spend in Terabithia, in fact, seems to strengthen them for these trials of everyday life: it is there that they map out a plan of revenge on the school bully when she steals May Belle's Twinkies, and it is there that they discuss Jess's feelings of insecurity when Leslie begins to draw closer to her father. Leslie also introduces Jess to the world of imagination and creativity, telling him the stories of such classics of literature as //[|Moby Dick]// and //Hamlet//. All this also strengthens Jess's artistic talent and ability, as Leslie supports his ambition and, through the stories she tells, provides him with great subject matter. But much of the time they play wonderful games of their own invention—defeating intruders on Terabithian territory, praying to the Spirits of the Grove to end a long spell of rain, and numerous other fantasies.

However, Jess and Leslie's friendship, though centered in Terabithia, is not limited to Terabithia. They see each other at school, where they take a good deal of ribbing for their cross-gender friendship, but by now that sort of teasing has lost the power to hurt Jess, and Leslie has never been particularly bothered by what others think. At home, they celebrate holidays together, such as Christmas, when Jess gives Leslie a puppy and she gives him an expensive art set to develop his artistic talent, and Easter, when Leslie goes to church for the first time with Jess. Leslie is impressed by the beauty of the story of Christ. Jess and his little sister May Belle, cowed by negative and unforgiving religious training, are convinced that nonbelievers such as Leslie are doomed to hell, and find the whole experience disturbing. Nevertheless, Jess and Leslie remain the best of friends, and Jess finds a purpose in his life through Leslie's company that he's never had before.

One day the music teacher at school, Miss Edmunds, whom Jess has long had a crush on, invites him to spend a day with her touring the art galleries in Washington. This trip does much to expand his mind and make him feel as if he is special, a feeling he has previously only had in Leslie's company. Jess has a perfect day, but when he gets home he is told that Leslie drowned in the creek that morning trying to swing into Terabithia on the rope that they used for that purpose. Jess is completely devastated and goes through the stages of grief—denial, anger, fear, and sorrow—all incredibly painful to suffer and, indeed, to read about. Initially, he does not see how he is to go on initially. Leslie has raised him to new heights as the king of Terabithia, and now he feels that without her, he has no choice but to revert to the old Jess, plagued by fear and insecurity. However, eventually he realizes that he can only keep Leslie's memory, and his own newfound sense of self, alive by continuing the fantasy of Terabithia. He brings his little sister May Belle there and makes her its new queen, assuring that a part of Leslie will live on as well.

=Theme Topics=

Friendship
Jess and Leslie's friendship is the central theme of //Bridge to Terabithia.// Their friendship is delightful on a simple level, their childish exploits fraught with amusement and joy. However, we cannot simply call //Bridge to Terabithia// a monument to the carefree pleasures of childhood, because that would miss one of the main points of the story. The reason that Jess and Leslie's friendship is so magical is because it allows them to rejoice in childhood and to escape the rest of the pressures that bear down on them so heavily in the rest of their lives. Jess, in particular, leads a life full of everyday hardship and dissatisfaction. We sense that before Leslie came along, he was in danger of sinking under the weight of these combined pressures and reluctantly accepting conformity. This is the essential beauty of their friendship: it allows both Leslie and Jess, particularly Jess, to find their true selves. This seems to be Paterson's central point about friendship—that it allows friends to expand, to explore new dimensions of one's character as a result of the other person's pushing one in new directions. For example, Jess's artistic abilities are strengthened by Leslie's imagination, which provides perfect fodder for new and innovative artwork, and Leslie's strength and courage are tested and developed when Jess encourages her to help Janice Avery. Jess discovers in himself an aptitude for invention and creativity; Leslie uncovers a desire for spirituality when Jess brings her to church. Rather counterintuitively, Paterson suggests that individuality is difficult to find on one's own, because then one has no aid in combating societal and other external pressures and forces which would attempt to destroy one's individuality. Rather, in a friendship, one discovers new aspects of oneself and helps the other person to discover new aspects of him/herself as well. This is particularly important in an adolescent friendship such as the one described in //Bridge to Terabithia,// because those are the formative years, when much of one's adult character is determined. A friendship such as Jess and Leslie share allows the two to become comfortable with themselves, to discover who they really are without worries that what they find will not fit into the "proper" mold. Ultimately, each member of such a friendship is strengthened and developed by the friendship.

Childhood
Childhood is a corollary to the theme of friendship in the book. As mentioned before, some people might have a tendency to breezily summarize childhood as a time of carefree bliss, when nothing could go wrong. This might be reinforced by the idealized times that Leslie and Jess spend in Terabithia, which seem to be the epitome of untroubled childhood joy. However, Paterson recognizes that this is far from being true all the time—in fact, the main attraction of Terabithia is that it allows the children to escape the "real world," which is apparently nearly as full of pain and sorrow for children as for adults. Sometimes this is played down a bit, as when May Belle is devastated when Janice Avery steals her Twinkies; however, the character of Janice herself is perfect proof that childhood is not always perfect, given her father's violent abuse of her. Jess, too, struggles with very pervasive problems of identity imposed by his family and classmates. Leslie must contend with the disdain of her classmates and the wavering attention of her parents, whose work often dominates their lives. Paterson clearly encourages us to take a look beyond the stereotype of idealized childhood and to realize that children deal with problems just as pressing as those that adults face. Our priorities shift as we grow older, so we have a tendency to downplay the crises of childhood as unimportant, even though they are very real and important to the children who suffer them.

Conformity and individuality
Jess's main struggle in the book is to discover his true identity when faced with the demands of his family and society in general. The push is for him to conform—to discard his artistic talent and concentrate instead on those pursuits that are either more "manly" or which will be more practically useful to the family. His classmates expect him to come out of a certain mold as well, to watch the Washington Redskins on television and hang with the guys and act tough. However, it's Jess misfortune—or, to offer an alternate point of view, his good luck—not to fit this mold particularly well, and he feels trapped, finding running to be the only safe outlet for his own talents and inclinations. When Leslie comes along, she helps Jess to escape from the crushing pressures of conformity. Her parents' background as free-spirited near- hippies has given her a great deal of freedom and personal choice, and she opens Jess's eyes to the possibilities that exist for him as well. When she dies, he is crushed, but he has gained enough strength and sense of self through his friendship with her to carry on without her and not lose touch with all she has taught him.

Gender Roles
Gender role is a motif that plays off the idea of conformity. Jess is expected to fit into a certain mold, but that mold is a distinctly masculine one. Jess's father is scornful of his artistic ability, calling it a girl's pastime. Jess's classmates snigger if he shows a tendency to want to avoid brawling when possible. Jess is expected to be responsible, stoic, and strong, and to be ready to shoulder the burden of responsibility for the family that his father has carried all these years. Leslie meets with the family's disapproval because she doesn't fit easily into a feminine category, with her short hair and athletic ability. However, this is part of what draws Jess to her. She has a liberating force that she exerts over all his cramped confinement. Leslie shows him that he does not need to fulfill a peculiarly masculine role, and that he is free to be himself without reference to gender stereotypes.

Education
Education is portrayed rather dubiously throughout //Bridge to Terabithia.// Certainly the area in which Jess lives is not strong on education: the rural area is dirt-poor, with little money to fund a school system, and most of the residents are uneducated as well, farmers by destiny and by trade. Jess has very little exposure to intellectual thirst and curiosity until he meets the Burkes. They are all extremely intelligent and highly educated, a fact that sets Jess reeling at first. Certainly their education forms a crucial difference between them and the rest of the people in the area. Yet the dichotomy is not absolute. As Jess gets to know Leslie, he hungrily devours her books and eagerly immerses himself in the imaginary world of Terabithia. He doesn't assimilate her education overnight, but the seeds of intelligence and desire to learn are firmly planted in him, and if he'll never be the erudite that either of Leslie's parents is, the gap between them is not as wide as he imagines. The reader is left wishing that Jess had the opportunity to have the education that Leslie's had, but in the end it isn't really necessary: his cleverness and ambition will take him far in their own right.

Friendship Paterson’s central point of friendship is evident throughout the novel. The majesty of Jess and Leslie’s union is woven amidst threads of fantasy and imagination. Furthermore, this union is encouraged by the common need to escape certain problems and pressures that weigh heavily on their young spirits—particularly Jess, who was hopeless, and repressed. Had he not found an outlet for his stress and a way to expand his mind, he might have reluctantly given into his less-than-satisfactory surroundings and accepted conformity. Paterson also dares to create an aura of controversy within this innocent story of boy meets girl. In 1977, when the story takes place, cross-gender friendships were frowned upon. Not only do the characters in the book tease and mock, but Paterson herself was criticized for presenting what at the time was an unorthodox friendship.

Childhood and Imagination Paterson shows that amongst the problems, the two friends were able to escape into their childhood and find their true identity. Most times we assume that childhood is an optimistic, utopian state of being. This belief is utterly contradicted by the reality of the children having to battle identity crises, social isolation, and acceptance of death. The imaginary land of Terabithia is a representation of the perfect childhood, one void of any adult chastisement or ridicule from peers. This fantasy world is fully intact within the imaginations of Jess and Leslie. That is, until Leslie’s untimely demise.

Stages of Grief

It’s quite distressing to read about Leslie’s death and how agonizing it is for Jess to deal with it. Nonetheless, we become part of his journey through the stages of grief. Let’s explore these stages in detail as outlined on Roberts Bowers’ website, What is Grief?

Denial – In the denial stage, Jess refuses to believe that Leslie is gone. He dismisses his family and even imagines that Leslie’s is still alive in Terabithia.

Anger – Once he becomes aware of what has taken place, Jess becomes angry with Leslie. He curses her because she has left him all alone. He also feels betrayed by Terabithia for being the place where her accident occurred.

Fear – Feelings of intimidation began to haunt our main character as he realizes that he is alone again. He questions how he will remain strong without his confidant. Jess also doubts that the magic of Terabithia will persist without Leslie to reign as queen.

Sadness – Depression and sadness is normal for anyone grieving a loss. This may be the most difficult stage to deal with. Emotional fatigue may begin to set in after no longer being able to fight back tears. Random outbursts of crying, feelings of guilt, and the thought of being punished are all different way that this stage of grief can manifest itself.

Acceptance – The final stage of grief is acceptance. As Jess ultimately accepts Leslie’s death; the reader is also relieved of the emotional burden. Jess is able to move on and deal with logical solutions to a most unfortunate situation. It is here where he builds the bridge to Terabithia as a memorial to Leslie and a safe passage for the new reigning queen, May Belle, his little sister.

Chapter One
After Jess heard his dad leave for work he put on his overalls not his shirt because he would be too hot after his run. Jesse was practicing to be the fastest runner in grade 5. He has two older sisters Ellie and Brenda and his 6 year old sister, May Belle, worships him, he also has a younger sister other than May Belle, Joyce Ann. When Jess reaches the cow field, he shouts "Bang!" he sprints around the field. When he finished his run, he heads back home where he finds his older sisters complaining about his smell. After he is forced to wash, Brenda and Ellie go out to the shops to buy school clothes, leaving Jess and his mum to do the chores. Jesse goes to Lark Creek Elementary.

Chapter Two
Jess finishes the chores with his mother. Today she has been canning beans, and the resultant heat from all the boiling has put her in a terrible mood and worn Jess out. He makes dinner for his little sisters, and then stretches out to draw for a little while. Jess, we find, has both a talent and a passion for art, a talent which nobody appreciates except for the music teacher at school, Miss Edmunds. Jess is deeply in puppy love with Miss Edmunds. She is like a breath of fresh air to him in the squalid atmosphere of his school, Lark Creek Elementary, which is very much like an extension of his home environment. At school, the teachers are prone to nagging and the students are generally catty and demonstrate little intellectual curiosity or desire to learn. Compared with the rest, Miss Edmunds is extraordinarily sweet, kind, and beautiful. Most of the kids pretend not to like her, citing her hippie-like aura, but Jess adores her and knows that, deep down, so do the others. Music class is the only time at school when the students are allowed to let their hair down and relax and have fun.

Jess shares a special relationship with Miss Edmunds. She gives him the positive feedback and attention that he cannot find anywhere else. She is the only person he has shown his art to since he attempted to show it to his father years ago, when his father became angry and more or less accused Jess of being a sissy. Miss Edmunds, however, assures Jess that his work shows real promise and offers to help him in any way she can. She senses that he is an unusual child who is out of place in the world of Lark Creek Elementary—"the proverbial diamond in the rough," she calls him. Although Jess feels that description is more suited to Miss Edmunds herself than to him, he basks in the feeling of being cared for and appreciated. Again, Jess is called out of his reverie by a call from his mother, a reminder to get on with the milking. As he milks, the rest of the family trickles in, Ellie and Brenda from shopping, and his father from work. Jess watches, envious, as May Belle runs to her father and is picked up and hugged and kissed. As Jess puts it, "it seemed he had been thought too old for that kind of thing since the day he was born." Throughout the night, the only thing his father says to him directly is "Mighty late with the milking, aren't you, son?"

The next morning, Jess goes out for his morning run, as usual. He is interrupted by a comment from a person sitting on their fence—"If you're so scared of the cow, why don't you just jump the fence?" At first, Jess cannot tell if the person speaking to him is a boy or a girl. He or she introduces him/herself as Leslie Burke, one of the new neighbors. Eventually, Jess comes to the correct conclusion that Leslie is a girl. He is more or less indifferent to her, and he shrugs her off, and goes back to the house to finish the chores.

Chapter Three
It is the first day of school and back to the grind for Jess, whose only consolation is that the first race of the year will take place that afternoon. He comes to class to find that Leslie is in his class as well. Already she is a target for malicious taunting, since she has come in cutoffs and a T-shirt, apparently not realizing, or else not caring, that the rest of the students show up for the first day of school in their Sunday best. Jess lives through the morning in a fever of anticipation, waiting for the races at recess.

After a morning's worth of endurance of typical teacher irritability and peer annoyances, recess begins and the races are about to start. Jess is watching quietly as Gary Fulcher bosses everyone around when Leslie comes up to stand beside him. Gary begins to get too high-handed, running the races autocratically and unfairly, so Jess stands up to him, demanding that two boys who tied in their heat both be allowed to run in the finals. Gary, angered, derisively suggests that perhaps Jess wants to let a girl run. Jess agrees and tells her she can run in his heat. When the race begins, Jess is supremely confident and proud of the speed he's gained over the summer. He imagines everyone is watching in awe, noticing how much he has improved, but all of a sudden he senses a figure drawing close to him, then ahead of him. As the figure pulls across the finish line, he can see that it is Leslie.

Gary wants to kick Leslie out of the race now that she has had her chance and run in her heat, but she demands to run in the finals. Jess backs her up, despite his humiliation and disappointment, by challenging Gary and asking if he's scared to race her. Gary reluctantly agrees to let her race, and she wins the finals as well.

After the race Leslie tries to befriend him, telling him he's the "only kid in this durned school worth shooting," but he brushes her off brusquely, telling her, "So shoot me." He continues to avoid her throughout the day, and when he sees her running toward her home after school, in her graceful, rhythmic run, he shrugs off the admiration which wells up within him and turns homeward.

Chapter Four
The first week of school passes, in which things seem unbearable for Jess. School is as boring and seemingly pointless as ever, but worse, Leslie continues to join the races at recess, and each day she wins. Enthusiasm for the races begins to die down as the boys' dissatisfaction and humiliation at being beaten by a girl grows. By the end of the week, it is understood that there will be no more races. Jess continues to avoid Leslie, unable to be around her without being reminded of his own shame and being irked by her inability to fit into the Lark Creek Elementary mold.

The one bright spot on the horizon is Miss Edmunds's weekly visit to the school. She comes on Friday, finally, and with her is a lift in Jess's spirits. During class, they sing "Free To Be You and Me," and Jess is transported. In the middle of the song, he suddenly realizes how silly he has been in avoiding Leslie, sensing intuitively that they could be great friends, and smiles across the room at her. Leslie correctly interprets his smile and sits beside him on the bus that afternoon. In their conversation, Jess learns a lot about Leslie. She comes from an affluent town with a good school district, much different from Jess's area, and that so far, she hates her new home. He learns that her parents moved to "reassess their value structure," meaning that "they decided they were too hooked on money and success, so they bought that old farm and they're going to farm it and think about what's important." Most daunting of all, is that Jess learns that Leslie's family is rich. In the poverty of the world he lives in, Jess can hardly understand this last fact, and in the end he simply vows to ignore it.

All these differences are perhaps summed up in their worst light in an incident that takes place at the school. One day in school, Miss Myers reads aloud an essay that Leslie wrote on scuba diving, an essay that hits Jess hard, for its vivid description of the underwater world tap into his own fears of the water. After the essay has been read, Miss Myers announces that there is to be a special on Jacques Cousteau on television that night, and asks the class to watch the special and write a one-page essay about it. Leslie reluctantly, but bravely, raises her hand and tells Miss Myers that she cannot do the assignment, because her family does not have a TV set. The class is shocked and disdainful, and makes fun of her at recess. Leslie avoids Jess as he tries to comfort her, and after school dashes to the back of the bus and sits in what Jess knows to be the seventh graders' private territory.

Jess runs to the back of the bus and tries to retrieve Leslie, but Janice Avery, the ultimate school bully, catches them there. Jess forces himself to stand up to her, making a crack about her weight, and then Jess and Leslie shoulder past Janice and make their way to their usual seats. Jess's defiance of Janice seems to have cheered Leslie up somewhat, perhaps helping her to realize that there is someone in the school who likes her and is willing to fight for her, and she suggests that they do something together that afternoon. May Belle tries to push in, but Leslie gives her a set of brand-new paper dolls that her grandmother had sent her to placate her. Jess and Leslie have the afternoon to themselves.

They spend the afternoon swinging on an old rope hanging from a tree near the creek. As they swing, Leslie suggests that they need a place just of their own, apart from the rest of the world and known only to them—a secret, magic land of which they would be the rulers. Jess is excited by the idea, so they cross the creek to the woods. They decide to build their "castle stronghold" just on the other side of the creek, which relieves Jess. Jess does not like the darker parts of the woods, where it was "almost like being underwater." Leslie names their secret land Terabithia.

Jess and Leslie's friendship continues to grow and deepen in the next couple of months, both in school and in Terabithia. They face the harassment of Janice Avery and the teasing of their schoolmates and Jess's sisters, who assume and insist that Jess and Leslie are boyfriend and girlfriend rather than just friends. Leslie even helps school to go by faster for Jess, relating to him all sorts of mischievous imaginings about the teacher. The only problem in their friendship is that, when they're not in Terabithia, they are not really comfortable spending time at either family's house. Leslie's parents intimidate jess, because of their education, money, and less parental relationship with Leslie. Jess's parents disapprove of his consuming friendship with "that girl who dresses funny," Ellie and Brenda tease them constantly, and May Belle continually tries to horn in on their time together. Terabithia is the only place they can escape to, and Jess feels himself to be a new person the second he's swung across the creek on the old rope. Near the end of the chapter, Jess gathers the nerve to bring Leslie to the deep pine forest he is slightly afraid of, and Leslie manages to put his fears to rest by assuring him that it is haunted by the spirits of beautiful things, that it is a sacred place that even the rulers of Terabithia must not frequent on light matters. Jess listens to the silence for a moment, and suddenly it seems very different than it had before.

One day on the bus, May Belle makes the mistake of shrieking across the bus to a friend that her father gave her Twinkies in her lunch. Unsurprisingly, Janice Avery steals May Belle's Twinkies at lunchtime. May Belle immediately runs screaming to Jess, demanding that he beat her up. Jess is loath to do so, since Janice is a lot bigger than he, but May Belle insists that he is "just yeller" and that a good big brother would beat her up. Leslie intervenes and tells May Belle that she and Jess will find some other way of getting back at Janice, explaining that the principal will kick Jess out of the school if he's caught fighting a girl. Jess gratefully agrees.

In Terabithia, they come up with a plan: they write a love letter to Janice from Willard Hughes, the boy every girl in the seventh grade has a crush on. The letter says that Willard is madly in love with Janice and wants to walk her home from school the next day. The next day in school Jess slips it into her desk. Sure enough, Janice falls for it, and misses the bus the next day, only to have to walk home alone when Willard obviously does not show up. Jess feels a little bit badly for her, but feels they could not have done anything else. The next morning, Janice is furious, and May Belle is thrilled to know that her brother did so much for her.

**Chapter Six**
Christmas is coming up, and Jess cannot figure out what to get for Leslie. Money is tight in his household, he has allotted a dollar for a present for each member of his family, and he has no way of getting a hold of any other money. He agonizes over it, knowing that Leslie will not care even if he does not get her anything, but it is important to him to be able to give her something. Finally one day he is on the bus, brooding over the situation, when he sees a sign advertising free puppies being given away. His problem is solved.

Leslie is delighted with the puppy. She names it Prince Terrien, making it a prince of Terabithia. However, its wild puppy behavior soon shows itself to be so flagrantly ill-suited to the name that she makes him the court jester instead, although she does not change his name. For Jess's present, she gives him an expensive art set, with twenty-four watercolors and a pad of heavy art paper.

The next morning Jess exchanges gifts with his family. His parents have splurged on an electric race-car set for him, something his father had clearly chosen in an effort to make him happy with something special. However, it does not work properly, and his father is tense and Jess desperately wants to please him. Finally he goes out to do the milking, where he joins Leslie and Prince Terrien. His tension and unhappiness vanish, and "it felt like Christmas again."

Chapter Seven
Mr. Burke has begun to renovate their new home, and Leslie is spending lots of time helping him. She is thrilled by the chance to spend so much time with him and get to know him better; she tells Jess that she is learning to "understand" her father. Jess, on the other hand, is lonely, miserable, and jealous. He feels abandoned, and cannot understand the relationship between Leslie and her father, which is so different from his relationship with his own father. Each time she calls him "Bill" rather than "Dad" he tenses up, and he does not understand why anyone would ever want or need to "understand" one's parents. He sees children as being in one world, adults in another, and he resents what he perceives to be the dimming of his own friendship with Leslie as her friendship with her father grows. Things go on like this for quite awhile, until Leslie finally notices and confronts him about it. Then she clears the whole matter up by suggesting that he help her and her father renovate the house. That is all Jess needs to feel included once more, and he immediately takes her up on her offer.

The Burke house, though, is strange to Jess. Leslie's parents insist that he call them "Bill" and "Judy," which is a strain for him. They are extremely well educated and intellectual. Both are writers, Mrs. Burke writes novels and Mr. Burke political commentary, and their intelligence shines through their every action. Yet Jess is full of practical knowledge that is truly useful to Mr. Burke in his renovation, so that Jess is able to enjoy his time at the Burkes' without feeling superfluous or like a nuisance. The chapter's title comes from their renovation of the living room, which they paint gold. The results are spectacular, and Jess has a moment of fear when Leslie says of it "It is worthy to be in a palace." He had thought she might let the secret of Terabithia slip, but it remains just for the two of them.

For the first time, in this chapter, Paterson describes one of the games they play in Terabithia. She has described their play there in abstract terms before, but now she tells us of a scene they act out when they return to Terabithia for the first time in almost a month, after redoing the house. Enemies have besieged the kingdom in their absence, and they must fight them off. After their victory, they go to the pine grove to thank the Spirits. Leslie's language is dignified and queenly, Jess is considerably less so, but neither one of them seems to find anything lacking in his manner, or in the game itself.

Several days later at school, Leslie comes out of the bathroom with a startling revelation. Janice Avery is sitting in one of the stalls, crying. Leslie initially seems to view this simply as an interesting occurrence, but Jess convinces her that they have to try to help her. Leslie refuses at first, but when Jess asks her if she is scared and she goes in to talk to Janice. The bell rings, and Jess has to leave before he can find out what has happened. He does not have a chance to talk to her until after school that day, when they are in Terabithia together.

Leslie tells him that Janice's father beats her, severely and regularly, the sort of beatings they imprison people for. That day, she had been so furious with her father that she had told her two best friends about it. Those friends had proceeded to blab it all over the school. This is a terrible thing to have happen, because one of the cardinal rules of life at Lark Creek Elementary is that you do not take home problems to school with you. In telling her friends about the beatings, Janice had betrayed her father, in the eyes of her schoolmates, and they had all be able to laugh at her from now on.

Leslie had tried to comfort Janice as best she could, telling her about how she had been made fun of for not having a television. Leslie tells her to pretend she did not know what her friends were talking about when they spread the story, and that everyone would forget about it in a week. This seemed to make Janice feel a lot better, and had made her sort of dubious friends with Leslie. Leslie is happy about this, proudly telling Jess that thanks to him, she now has one and one-half friends at Lark Creek Elementary.

At the end of the chapter, May Belle comes to Jess as he is falling asleep and announces that she followed him and Leslie to Terabithia. Jess is horrified at this, and makes her promise not to tell anyone where they go. May Belle promises, but Jess is profoundly uneasy, wondering how long he can "trust everything that matters to him to a sassy six-year-old."

Easter is coming up, and Jess's family is starting to prepare excitedly. His family only goes to church on Easter, and when they do it is an event. Brenda and Ellie in particular relish the opportunity to show off in new clothes. However, Jess's dad gets laid off just before Easter, and this means to Ellie and Brenda is that there will be no new clothes. It adds a new stress on an already careworn household.

Jess tells Leslie that they go to church on Easter, and Leslie surprises him by asking if she can go with them. She has never been to church, she says, and she wonders what it is all about. Jess is bewildered, and wonders why would anyone want to go to church if they did not have to, but he succeeds in persuading his mother to let Leslie go with them.

Church itself is a wholly unfulfilling experience for Jess. He finds the whole thing to be tiresome and monotonous, and has never gotten anything out of the experience. Leslie, however, is fascinated. She finds the Jesus story to be beautiful, like something out of a book. Jess tells her, "it's because we're all vile sinners that God made Jesus die." Leslie does not believe this, and May Belle is horrified, telling Leslie she is going to go to hell if she doesn't believe the Bible. Leslie scoffs at this, too, saying she does not believe God goes around damning people to hell. Jess and Leslie reach an uneasy truce about this, but May Belle cannot be persuaded.

Chapter Nine
It has been raining for a week, and Jess and Leslie are going stir crazy. Finally Jess suggests that they go to Terabithia anyway, and Leslie agrees. When they get there, they find that the creek has swollen enormously. Jess, who has always been somewhat afraid of the water, does not really want to go, but Leslie persuades him. It continues to rain, and with each day that the creek gets higher, Jess's trepidation mounts, until he ends up lying awake at nights worrying about it. He doesn't feel that he can tell Leslie of his fears, but each day it gets harder and harder for him to swing across the creek.

One day as they are in Terabithia, Leslie announces that this is no ordinary rain falling on their kingdom, but the work of evil spirits. She suggests that they go to the grove of the spirits and pray for deliverance. Jess is more than usually awkward and not king-like in this scene, as if his own consciousness of his fear and feelings of inferiority are tainting his ability to immerse himself in the fantasy. Leslie, however, does not push him on it, and suggests afterward that they dry out in front of the television at Jess's house. Jess agrees gratefully. But that night, when he wakes up to hear the rain drumming on the roof once more, his fear seizes him all over again, knowing that no matter how high the creek gets, Leslie will still want to swing across.

**Chapter Ten**
Jess is out milking Miss Bessie the next morning when May Belle comes out to tell him he has a phone call. When he takes it, it is Miss Edmunds. She is going to Washington for the day to see the National Gallery and wants to know if he wants to come with her. Jess knows that if he asks his mother's permission to go when she is awake, she will never say yes. Instead, he barely wakes her up, just enough to get a murmur of consent. Soon he is off to Washington with Miss Edmunds.

The two of them have a perfect day together. Jess is amazed and awed by the art gallery, and Miss Edmunds is pleased that she is giving him an opportunity to see these magnificent works of art for the first time in his life. Jess is particularly fascinated by a three-dimensional depiction of a buffalo hunt, in which a tribe of Native Americans is chasing a herd of buffalo over the edge of a cliff to their death. Miss Edmunds buys him lunch, which makes Jess rather uncomfortable, but he does not know how to tell her that he does not have any money, and on the way home they get ice cream. As she drops him off, Miss Edmunds thanks Jess for "a beautiful day." Jess is walking on air as he enters the house.

When he enters the kitchen, he immediately senses that something is wrong. His whole family is staring at him silently, and suddenly his mother breaks down. He does not know how to ask what has happened, but he does not need to, since Brenda's pouting voice informs him that Leslie died that day.

**Chapter Eleven**
Jess's father fills in the rest of the information for him. Leslie had tried to swing into Terabithia and the rope broke. She hit her head on something when she fell, which explains why the fact that she could swim did not help her. Jess denies it all point-blank, accusing his father of lying to him. In particular, he wants to assure May Belle that it is a lie, for he sees her looking terrified and knows she is remembering that Leslie was not a Christian and is therefore, to her understanding, going to hell. He shouts at May Belle that it is a lie and then runs out of the house.

The truth begins to seep in as he runs, and he counters it by running faster and faster, as if that can keep Leslie from being dead. His dad takes the pickup after him, and picks him up and carries him in. This seems to make something snap within Jess, and he allows himself to go numb. When they reach home, he quietly goes inside and lies down on his bed.

He wakes up in the middle of the night, not too sure what has happened. He knows in some part of his mind that Leslie is dead, but he refuses to accept it, "Leslie could not die any more than he himself could die." Instead, he lies awake, planning his next escape to Terabithia with Leslie. He structures whole conversations, apologizing for not inviting her to come to Washington with him and Miss Edmunds, describing the buffalo hunt. It occurs to him to tell her that he was scared to go to Terabithia that morning. But that hits too close to home, and he decides to stop thinking about it. He will tell Leslie when he sees her the next day. He recreates his day with Miss Edmunds in his mind instead, dredging up every detail, keeping the terrible memories at bay. Eventually he falls asleep.

When he wakes up his first thought is that he has forgotten the milking, but when he gets to the kitchen he discovers that his father has done it. His mother is strangely gentle toward him, and she has made him pancakes. Jess absorbs himself in eating his pancakes, thinking only how good they are. Eventually Brenda starts to heckle him for eating so calmly, saying, "If Jimmy Dicks died, I would not be able to eat a bite." Their mother tells her to keep her mouth shut, but she persists. All the time Jess is simply tucking away pancakes, not understanding much of what is going on around him.

His father comes in and tries to talk to him, to tell him that he is going over to the Burkes to pay his respects, and that Jess ought to come too, since he knew the "little girl" best. Jess asks what little girl, dully confused, and his father tries to explain to him, again, that Leslie is dead. As if sleepwalking, Jess goes to put his jacket on, and they leave for the Burkes'.

Jess and his parents walk over to the Burkes'. When they get there, they find the golden room filled with people. All the people crying unnerve Jess. Somewhere between his house and the Burkes', he seems to have gained some sort of an understanding of what happened, but he is only able to examine his thoughts with a clinical detachment, thinking of the practical ways Leslie's death will affect him. The kids at school will be respectful of him. His parents will make his sisters be nice to him. He has reached the second stage in his grieving, but he has barely begun yet.

All this breaks when Bill, Leslie's father, comes over to him. He hugs Jess and thanks him repeatedly for being such a wonderful friend to Leslie. Jess retreats from this initially by imagining how he and Leslie would react if they were watching such a melodramatic scene on TV. But his link with that detachment snaps when Bill tells him that they have decided to have Leslie cremated. One of Jess's few acknowledgments of Leslie's death had been contained in a passing thought that he would like to see her one more time, even laid out. Now that he knows he will not see her again, he cannot maintain his sense of apathy any longer, and he runs out of the house.

Jess's emotions have turned on again, with a vengeance. When he tears back to his house, May Belle wants to know if he had seen Leslie laid out. May Belle wants to know what a dead person looks like, but Jess just hits her, hard. He gathers up the paint set that Leslie gave him for Christmas, runs back to the creek, and throws it in. Jess's father approaches and tells him, "that was a damn fool thing to do." Jess is sobbing and screaming still, so his father gathers him into his lap, stroking his hair and comforting him.

Eventually Jess calms down enough to ask his father whether he thinks that God damns non-Christians to hell. His father is surprised by the question, and replies that Jess has no need to worry about Leslie, that God would not send a little girl to hell. Jess is soothed.

When they go back to the house, Jess is closer to feeling like himself than he has been all day. He is still in the throes of grief, is incredibly tired and cannot seem to focus on the outside world. He is thinking more normally, and he is aware of the situation now. Later on, Bill comes by and asks Jess to take care of Prince Terrien while he and his wife go on a trip to Pennsylvania. Jess agrees, and sleeps with Prince Terrien that night, and he is comforted by the warm body of the dog Leslie had loved.

Chapter Thirteen
The next morning Jess heads down to the creek. He means to see if he can find any of his paints, but once he is there he decides to go to Terabithia instead. He crosses on an old branch and then hesitates, unsure of what to do. For a minute he is convinced that the magic has indeed departed forever, that Leslie's death and the breaking of the rope cemented his fate as an ordinary boy rather than a king for the rest of his life. He has always felt somewhat at a loss without Leslie to guide him through the wonders of the kingdom. She is always been the one who spoke so royally, who had most of the ideas, who really had a sense of how a magic kingdom should be. Jess wants to recapture that, but he's not sure how. Eventually he decides to make a funeral wreath.

Jess is pleased with the effect when he has done. He picks it up and slowly, at the head of a great procession, carries it to the grove of the spirits. Here he manages to find words, lifted from his few experiences at church, "Father, into thy hands I commend her spirit." Those words have the ring of the sacred grove in them, and Jess begins to feel that perhaps he can be a king even now that his queen is gone.

Just then he hears a shriek. May Belle has tried to cross to the other side of the creek on the branch, but she has gotten stuck halfway and is too terrified to move. Jess is still in control, and the sense of strength that descended upon him in the sacred grove has not left him. He rescues her, coaxing her across to the other side. May Belle confesses that she had wanted to help him so he would not be lonely, but that she got too scared. Jess assures her that everyone gets scared, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. They walk back to the house together.

The next day in school, Leslie's desk has already been taken out of the classroom. Everything floods back to Jess, this time in a different light. All her schoolmates had hated Leslie, he thinks, and they would not care that she was dead. They were all too eager to get rid of her desk and the memory of her. Jess is sullen and withdrawn until Mrs. Myers calls him outside the room to speak with him. She expresses her sympathy, saying how extraordinary Leslie was and how much she will miss her. Mrs. Myers said that since she will miss her, she cannot imagine how much harder it must be for Jess. She tells him that when her husband died, people were always telling her she would forget, but that she did not want to forget. She knows it is the same for Jess now, and she wants him to know that if she can ever help him through this in any way, he should let her know.

Mrs. Myers's words actually have meaning for Jess, and help him to see Mrs. Myers in a whole new light. He appreciates knowing that he will never forget Leslie. He thinks about how Leslie has changed him, and he realizes that the only way to preserve both those changes and her memory is to preserve Terabithia. He knows that Terabithia is not the ultimate destination in his life. Terabithia is a place of childhood, and that he must graduate from there to the real world. He is resolved not to let Terabithia die when he leaves it for this new world pressing on him.

The Burkes move out of the old Perkins place several days later, saying that without Leslie, there is no reason to stay there anymore. They give Jess all Leslie's books and her own watercolor set, and tell him that if he wants anything they have left behind, all he has to do is ask. Jess requests some of the lumber on their back porch.

The next day Jess goes down to the creek and builds a bridge across it with the lumber he got from the Burkes. He brings May Belle down and swears her to secrecy, although he says she might want to let Joyce Ann in on the secret in time. They cross the bridge to Terabithia and he tells May Belle the Terabithians are all in a flutter, saying, "there's a rumor going around that the beautiful girl arriving today might be the queen they've been waiting for."