# of Words: 339

Bridge to Terabithia is one of the very classic books you could ever read about friendship, imagination, and reduction. And, with each of these components, the book won Katherine Paterson her very first Newbery Medal at 1978 (she won another for Jacob Have I Loved at 1981). However, like many other excellent children's books, it has come under controversial fire.

It happens to deal with some pretty hard subject matter, such as passing and religion (by way of example, some critics think Leslie's not a fantastic role model because she doesn't attend church), and it doesn't help that a few of the characters do some moderate swearing (origin).

But, it seems as though guards such as the book are much more passionate than criticisms.

"[...] inducing Bridge to Terabithia to be deducted from the literary bill of fare to young adults could do a great deal more than simply enable the censors to prohibit a high quality novel. It can sound a frighteningly clear clarion call to get a full-scale assault on imaginative literature during U.S. programs of research." (origin)

Whether you applaud Paterson for providing a voice to youth loss and despair or perhaps not, what some folks don't know is that Bridge to Terabithia is motivated by the true story of the writer's son and his best buddy. Paterson found herself not able to describe the reduction to her son and ended up writing Bridge to Terabithia. At a Q&A on her site, she states, "I wrote the book to attempt to make sense from a catastrophe that seemed senseless" (origin).

Unsurprisingly, over the decades Paterson has received plenty of fan mail that question the rather unconventional decision to write about the death of a principal character. In a 2005 interview, Paterson admitted, "When kids ask me why she had to die, I need to weep, because it's a question for which I don't have any answer" (origin). Both in life and in fiction, it seems, the reduction of a buddy like that can not be clarified or undone.

Related Papers

Henry V William Shakespeare

Composed around 1599, Henry V is the last play in William Shakespeare' second tetralogy, a set of history plays which contains Richard II, Henry Part 1, and Henry IV Part two. In the previous works, Shakespeare portrays Henry's days as a crazy and reckless adolescent. In Henry V, "Wild Prince Hal" has long since grown up into a competent king who's determined to invade France and lay claim to the French throne. Though written about the early 1400s, for countless years audiences have discovered......Read More

The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov was a Russian author known for his short stories and plays. The Cherry Orchard was his last play, made by the famed Moscow Art Theatre soon before his death in 1904. You may have discovered that Chekhov was a doctor. He started writing to encourage himself through medical school, also you may see the bedside way from his writing. He is a guy who has seen a great deal, and thinks of people with a combination of affection and ridicule. You are certainly able to see this aspect of......Read More

The God Of Small Things Arundhati Roy

Released in 1997, The God of Small Things quickly skyrocketed Arundhati Roy to globally critical and popular acclaim. Her first (and to date only) novel won the 1997 Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards at the English-language literary universe. Interestingly, Roy was educated as an architect and had never before considered herself a novelist. The novel, which Roy composed between 1992 and 1996, has sold more than 6 million copies and has been translated into 40 languages.......Read More

Related Topics