Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Book Review: Bridge to Terabithia

I wasn't planning to write a book review this week, but I read a couple of chapters of Bridge to Terabithia on Friday to start preparing for a new unit for one of my reading classes, and I finished it in a couple of hours on Saturday.


Back to my thoughts on Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson.  If you plan to read this or see the movie, I just want to warn you that my review contains spoilers!!

via
If you've never read the book (or seen the movie), here's the summary from Goodreads.com:

Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone.

That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as king and queen, and their imaginations set the only limits.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this book because one of my 6th grade classes picked as the next book they wanted to read in class. It only took me a few hours to read. I'm sad to say that I just don't get what the big deal is surrounding this book. I would also really love to know why this book was ever turned into a movie?? I hope my students will not be as disappointed in this book as I was.

I did give it two stars and not one because I didn't feel that it was badly written or anything like that. I just thought the plot was rather boring. Don't get me wrong, though! I would have loved an area like that to play with friends as a kid. We were always playing imaginary games, and we had so much fun! That doesn't mean that someone should've written a book about them.

I really didn't feel connected to the characters, and for a crier, I surprisingly had a very UNemotional reaction to Leslie's death. While there was an indication that something bad was going to happen, I felt that her death came out of nowhere. I actually thought that they might get swept through the creek and something bad but more adventuresome would take place.

This was a truly disappointing read.

View all my reviews

The more I think about it, the more that I want to change my review to one stars, but I'll go ahead and keep my final decision.  I just don't get all of the hype.  Looking over other ratings people gave this book, I was glad to know that I wasn't alone.  It seems like people either love this book or hate it.

Have you read it?  What did you think?  It's ok if we disagree!  If you liked this book, I would really love to know why!! :)

4 comments:

Kristin said...

I read this in 5th grade at MV and didn't like it then and I don't like it now. A lot of my 4th graders enjoyed it over the last few years but they all read it on their own. Does MV use AR levels to choose books? Bridge to Terabithia is actually a 4th grade book, so I really used books I remember from 5th/6th grade (like Hatchet, Number the Stars, and Maniac Magee) and did them with 4th. I know the curriculum is set and all but even I became bored teaching Hatchet 3 years in a row, I can't imagine what it's like to do more than that. Maybe you could find something newer? Plus, they've ALL see the Bridge to Terabithia movie anyway! (It was dumb.) I always made it a point to find a new book every year because it held my interest. I even bought sets out of the book order and, with the help of bonus points, it never cost more than $20.

Sarah Alway said...

Oh my goodness, I can't believe you never read this book as a kid! It was one of my absolute favorites, and I remember just sobbing at the end... I would never read it again though... too sad!

Caitlin Cavallaro said...

This was actually one of my most favorite books as a child. But, surprisingly, reading it as an adult, I had much of the same reaction you did. Definitely not sure why I loved it so much as a child...

Minttu, Kivempi blogi said...

When I did one of my practicums in junior high, we went to see this movie with all the 7th graders. It was ok but maybe our students were a bit too old for the movie...

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