Bridge to Terabithia

This award-winning novel for grade 4-7 students follows the friendship between Leslie, whose progressive parents relocate to a farming town, and Jesse, whose family has the traditional interests and values typical of the area. Jesse and Leslie create an imaginary world in the forest, but when tragedy strikes and Leslie dies, Jesse blames himself, but later understands the importance of Leslie’s friendship. The novel addresses the complex topics of death, poverty, stereotypes, family values, religious bias, and gender roles. The illustrations do an effective job in capturing key events in the story.