Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson

Biography : Katherine Paterson was born in 1932, in China, where she spent part of her childhood. After her education in China and the American South, she spent four years in Japan, the setting for her first three novels. Ms. Paterson has received numerous awards for her writing, including National Book Awards for The Master Puppeteer and The Great Gilly Hopkins, as well as Newbery Medals for Jacob Have I Loved and Bridge to Terabithia. Ms. Paterson lives with her husband in vermont. They have four grown children." Find out more on her official website

Bibliography :

* Young Adults novels : Sign of the Chrysanthemum (1973); Of Nightingales That Weep (1974); The Master Puppeteer (1976); Bridge to Terabithia (1977); The Great Gilly Hopkins (1978); Jacob Have I Loved (1980); Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom (1983); Come sing, Jimmy Jo (1985); Park's Quest (1988); Lyddie Flip-Flop Girl (1994); Jip, His Story (1996); Preacher's Boy (1999); The Same Stuff as Stars (2002); Bread ans Roses, Too (2006)
* Picture books : The Angel and The Donkey (1996); The King's Equal (1996); Celia and the Sweet, Sweet Water (1998); Tale of the Mandarin Ducks (1990); The Wide-Awake Princess (2000); Bluberries for the Queen (2004)
* I-Can-Read books : The Smallest Cow in the World (1991); Marvin's Best Christmas Present Ever (1997); Parzival : The Quest of the Grail Knight (1998); The Field of the Dogs (2001); Marvin One Too Many (2001)
* Non-fiction : Gates of Excellence : On reading and writing books for children (1981); Consider the Lillies : Plants of the Bible (1986); The Spying Heart : More Thoughts on reading and Writing Books for children (1989); Who am I? (1992); A Sense of Wonder : On reading and writing books for children (1995); The Invisible Child : On reading and writing books for children (2001)
* Christmas short stories : Angels and Other Strangers : Family Christmas Stories (1979); Star of Night : Stories for Christmas (1980); A Midnight Clear : Twelve Family Stories for the Christmas Season (1995)

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Genre : Fiction - Children's Book

American publisher : Harper Trophy : 6,99$ US

English publisher : Harper Trophy : 3,99£

Canadian publisher : Harper Collins Canada : 8,75$ CAN

Synopsis : Jessie Aarons lives in Lark Creek with his parents and four sisters. They're poor and all he wants is to be able to draw and to be the fastest runner at school. But one day a family from Washington moves in the house next door, and their daughter Leslie, beats him in running. Despite the fact is a better runner, they become friends and live many adventures together in Terabithi, a country which stands just accross the stream. One day, Jess goes to Washington with his music teacher, and forget to ask Leslie to come, and during his absence a terrible thing happens...

What I think : I had been enchanted by the movie and wanted to read the book. It is very emotional too. I must admit that I shed a few tears in the end, when 'it' happens. The big difference with the movie is that the book doesn't really offer a description of Terabithia and its inhabitants. The book is more based on the way children can create things in their heads and of course about the loss and the bereavement. Unfortunately, I think I did not enjoy this book as much as I should have if I hadn't just read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, but I enjoyed it all the same.