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Bridge to Terabithia cover art

Bridge to Terabithia

Written by: Katherine Paterson
Narrated by: Robert Sean Leonard
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Publisher's Summary

This beloved Newbery Medal-winning novel by best-selling author Katherine Paterson is a modern classic of friendship and loss. This middle grade novel is an excellent choice for tween listeners in grades five to six, especially during homeschooling. It's a fun way to keep your child entertained and engaged while not in the classroom.

Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief. Bridge to Terabithia was also named an ALA Notable Children's Book and has become a touchstone of children's literature, as have many of Katherine Paterson's other novels, including The Great Gilly Hopkins and Jacob Have I Loved.

©1974 Katherine Paterson (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers

What the critics say

  • Newbery Medal, 1978

"Paterson's Newbery-winning novel becomes an entertaining and dramatic audiobook via Leonard's accomplished reading." ( Publishers Weekly)
"This children's classic has been recorded several times, but Robert Sean Leonard has crafted a recording that earns its place among the best." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Bridge to Terabithia

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Very sad

I liked it but my granddaughter didn’t care for it. Too emotionally difficult for her at 11.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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I will never not cry at the end of this book

Wonderful performance, even better story! Thank you Katherine Paterson for all the amazing memories I have in Terabithia

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Enjoyable

#Audible1 This was a really good book in terms of learning on the realism around the world with the mystical aspect of Terabithia very much bring a sense of magic and wonder for Jessie and Leslie’s growth as characters

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  • Exec. Chef 'Special K'
  • 2013-03-03

Not sure why they banned this book all the same...

When I was about six years old, we toured a chapel of the bones and remains of St. Peter on display in Odense, Denmark. About 20 mins after we exited, I became quite upset over what I'd seen and couldn't comprehend why our bodies turned like this. That was my first exposure to death. Once my mother realized that she probably shouldn't have taken me to this part of the tour, she did her best to console me.

I think this nice little book should be allowed in schools. For too many of us, exposure to death is not 'nearly enough' at such a young age. For those of us that have been sheltered and do not have these experiences till we are older, does not really help us. It only worsens pain later on by not having this experience or by not having the opportunity to talk about it. Even though some of us are blessed to not be exposed, this is an area that should be talked about from a younger age. Death is unfortunately a part of life and to try to 'save some of us' from that is not in our best interest. I wish I had read this at 9 or 10 years of age. Maybe earlier.

At the end of this story there is a little narrative discussion with the author. They talked about the fact that death is not appropriate for children and thus the reasons why they banned the book. Right, so well stated. Death is not appropriate for anyone, let alone children. However, given that it is in all our lives at some point, avoiding it by not reading a story that gently brings it up, is not justifiable means to a 'false-safe-harbour'.

This is well written book. The events that transpire are written in such a way that allows for a gentle exposure to the concept. I would encourage anyone who has children, to consider reading this with them as a way to bring up the topic. I wish my mum had done this with me or at least considered it instead of trying to completely shelter me from it.

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105 people found this helpful

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  • Karen M. Bovenmyer
  • 2012-08-22

Don't wait to discover this classic

I was a sensitive kid (I hated watching Road Runner and Trix commercials because of the unfairness of it all). I played with a pack of little boys, and I knew the worst thing that could happen to a person was for someone to see you cry. When friends were reading Bridge to Terabithia and reporting it as a sad, sad story, but very, very good, I ran away from it as hard as I could. We even played Terabithia in the woods together and I pretended not to mind not knowing the back story. Now I wish I hadn't waited 30 years to read this book. There's pain here, true, but also beauty and the hidden memory of what it was like to be 10 years old. I would recommend this book to anyone, even those who always wanted to give a cartoon rabbit a long-in-coming bowl of breakfast cereal.

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70 people found this helpful

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  • R. G. Pickering
  • 2016-09-16

Great book

I read this book because my grandson is reading it in school (he is a junior). I thought it was a beautiful story of a growing friendship, cut off by tragedy, and the mourning process. It was well told, the voice was very nice, and, even as an old lady, I really enjoyed reading it.

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29 people found this helpful

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  • Merlene
  • 2016-10-25

Good story

I enjoyed the story and the audio was well done. The only thing that bothered me was how the author used the name of the Lord in vain throughout the book. Many school kids have read this through the years and it continues to be a popular book for children but just leaving out that word would have made the book so much better to me.

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18 people found this helpful

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  • Jen
  • 2018-05-15

How it made me feel ....

It made me feel better about myself and who I am. It shows that just one person can change your life for better, or for worse . You choose.


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9 people found this helpful

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  • Russell Bernard
  • 2018-09-20

Touching wonderful story for children of all ages,

The narration was very good and the story is wonderful. This story is for you if you have ever lost a friend regardless of you age. the interview with the author at the end of the book is very enlightening.

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8 people found this helpful

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  • Inkish Kingdoms . com
  • 2017-11-12

This deep sensation of lost is killing me!

For a full review, commentary, or point of view on this book, feel free to go to Inkish Kingdoms! Either at Google or Wordpress

The story was so easy and I could relate to it so much. It was funny because my friend saw a lot of symbols, but all I was seen were gender roles and gender "issues". I like the characters a lot and Jess was for me one of my favorite ones. I really liked how he found a friend, a real friend, in Leslie who was so different from the rest of the people in school. He had so much pressure coming from his family, his classmates, and society in general and that is why he was behaving the way he was; but...

Read the full review on my blog!

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7 people found this helpful

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  • Ivy N Madsen
  • 2018-08-06

A great performance

This performance is a wonderful way to experience this story. In about twice the time it would take to watch the movie, this audiobook provides the story with all the richness of the text.

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6 people found this helpful

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  • B.A. Wilson
  • 2018-08-27

That Ending, Though

The ending always catches me off guard, no matter how many times I read this book.

It's definitely an MG classic.

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5 people found this helpful

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  • Tish
  • 2018-06-11

Friendship story

This was a great book because there were some sad parts balanced by an uplifting storyline. It’s a story of friendship that shows the power of trust.

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5 people found this helpful