Yes, I admit it. I didn't read this book when I was younger, and it took the upcoming movie to inspire me to read it. But, WOW, am I glad I read it. The novel won the Newberry Medal in 1978.
Jess is determined to be the fastest runner in 5th grade. He worked all summer running and running to run as fast as he could. During the first recess of the new school year, Jess's confidence is shattered by Leslie who beats him in the race. Leslie is the new girl whose family has moved in just across the pasture from Jess and his family. Leslie and Jess become fast friends and create a kingdom called Terabithia in the woods near their homes where Jess is the king and Leslie is the queen. Their fantasy comes to a tragic end in an unexpected way.
Read this one. You'll be glad you did.
3 comments:
Yes it is great how movies can revive the life of a good book. Hope you have as much fun blogging as I am. Will add you blog to the list!
I haven't read it yet but have been intending to since they started advertising the movie. Freak the Mighty is one of my favorite movies and I had never heard of the book til the movie came out.
For me it is usually better to see the movie first because if I do the reverse the movie never seems as good. I don't think I've ever liked a movie better than the book.
I cannot believe you have NEVER read this book! It is one of my all-time favorites. When I was still in the classroom teaching 7th grade Language Arts, this was one of the books we read as a class. I would get so choked up knowing what was coming at the end, it would be difficult to finish reading aloud, and one of the students would usually have to complete the last couple of pages for me. (Same with "Where the Red Fern Grows" and "A Hole in the World"--I am a sucker for a sad story!)
There IS another movie version of Terabithia that was part of the Wonderworks After School specials on TV. It's so-so. I haven't seen the new version out in theaters yet, but it's in my Netflix queue. Part of me wishes they would just leave these great books alone, because the film is rarely as entertaining as the book (they have to leave too much out). The other part of me thinks it's great that children's quality literature is getting all this attention. It just burns me up that kids see the movie and won't bother checking the book out of the library because they already know "what the story is about." Yeah, right.
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