You may have noticed that I've reading a fair bit of not-that-recent books lately. While i love discovering what's brand new in the book world, there's also an embarrassingly high number of books that I haven't read. I've been working my way through some of the books listed on A Fuse 8 Production's list of Top 100 Children's Novels, which is an excellent place to read about a discussion of children's novels.I had never read Bridge to Terabithia, probably for two reasons: one, I thought it was a fantasy novel, and two, I also thought it was a cat story (because I got it confused with The Three Lives of Thomasina, which was on pretty high rotation on the Family Channel when I was younger). So its appearance on the list (at number 13) convinced me to pick it up.
It's a beautiful story about imagination and friendship, growing up and being yourself. Would I have enjoyed it as a child? Probably. I admit that while I didn't cry when reading it, there were times when I was close, and I had been in a different mood when reading it, it's likely that tears would have been falling. This is a really lovely book that has a real resonance with current economic times (as does Ramona and her Father, published in the same year and a Newbery Honor book to this book's Newbery Medal) as well as being pretty timeless in terms of friendship.
Find it at IndieBound.
Read it with:
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
I lose my shit every time I read this book. The photo of Jess' dad carrying him toward the end alone is enough to make me cry my eyes out.
ReplyDeleteI still have the weathered copy I read as a child. I have a vivid memory of realizing that I was getting the page I was reading wet with my tears. I was eight or nine, and this book was so heartbreaking. It was one of the first books about death that I read and it has always stayed with me.
ReplyDeletep.s. Currently reading The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second and really enjoying it. Thanks for the rec. :)