Group 3: Rochelle Arcega, Brendan Child, Jack

Meier, Jemielleann Quero & Jessica Schweiger

Bridge to Terabithia
“Now it was time for him to move out. She wasn’t there, so he must go for both of them. It was
up to him to pay back to the world in beauty and caring what Leslie had loaned him in vision and
strength.”

Biography  
Katherine Paterson was born in the Jiangsu Province of China in 1932 and spent her early
childhood years in China since her father was a missionary. She and her family moved to North Carolina
after having had to evacuate during World War II. Because of her different clothes and her accent, she
was considered an outcast compared to other children which caused her to become an avid reader.
Katherine Paterson mostly writes books about very difficult subjects. She has written over 30 books, 16
of them being novels for children and young people. She has won the Newbery Medal twice, for ​Bridge
to Terabithia in 1978 and for ​Jacob Have I Loved ​in 1981. She has also won the National Book Award
twice, for ​The Master Puppeteer ​in 1977 and ​The Great Gilly Hopkins ​(also a Newbery Honor Book) in
1979. She has won many other awards as well, such as the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1998 and
the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2006. She was even named a Living Legend by the Library of
Congress in 2000. Katherine Paterson continues to be an active member of the literature community as
she is the vice-president of the National Children’s Book and Literacy, a member of the board of trustees
for Vermont College of Fine Arts, an honorary lifetime member of the International Board of Books for
Young People, and an Alida Cutts lifetime member of the US section, The United States Board on Books
for Young People.
 Quote From Newbery Medal Acceptance Speech 
“...but it occurs to me that I have spent a good part of my life trying to construct bridges. Usually
my bridges have turned out looking much more like the bridge to Terabithia, a few planks over a nearly
dry gully, than like that elegant span across the Narrows. There were so many chasms I saw that needed
bridging—chasms of time and culture and disparate human nature—that I began sawing and hammering
the rough wood planks for my children and for any other children who might read what I had written. But
of course I could not make a bridge for them any more than I could conjure on up that night on Long
Island. I discovered gradually and not without a little pain that you don’t put together a bridge for a child.
You become one—you lay yourself across the chasm.”

Annotated Bibliography 
Other Books Written by Katherine Paterson
Paterson, Katherine. Jacob Have I Loved. 1st ed. New York: T.Y. Crowell, 1980. Print.

Jacob Have I Loved ​is another book by Katherine Paterson that has won a Newbery Medal. The book is
about twin sisters, Sara Louise and Caroline. Throughout their lives, Sara Louise feels as if she is being
hidden by Caroline’s shadow because she almost died at birth and got most of the attention. She grew
tired of Caroline taking everything she had or wanted, so she moves out of town, pursues her own dreams,
and becomes a nurse-midwife. When she finds herself birthing twins, one of the babies was struggling to
make it. After experiencing this, she comes to forgive her sister.

Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins. 1st ed. New York: T.Y. Crowell, 1978. Print.

Katherine Paterson’s ​The Great Gilly Hopkins ​has won the National Book Award and is also a Newbery
Honor Book. The book is about a young girl named Gilly who had been put into a foster home. She is
uncomfortable because her foster family is black. Gilly tries to contact her birth mother, so she can come
get her. However, she learns from her foster family what it really means to be a part of a family. In time,
she decides that she wants to stay with her foster family rather than go with her birth mother.

Paterson, Katherine., and Haru Wells. The Master Puppeteer. New York: Crowell, 1975. Print.

The Master Puppeteer ​is another National Book Award winner by Katherine Paterson. The book takes
place in Japan. It is about a young teenager, Jiro, who becomes the master puppeteer Yoshida’s
apprentice as a way to help his parents since they were growing poor like the rest of the city. Jiro gets
himself caught in a mystery and ends up having to try and save his mother. In the end, Yoshida allows
Jiro and his mother to live with him.

Literary Criticism
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2007/02/sudden_death.html
This criticism, written by Emily Bazelon, discusses the affect Bridge to Terabithia still teaches us. In this
analysis, she give us a summary of a book and then she goes along to discuss the main and most obvious
theme to this book, which is death. Emily states that the lesson that this novel is still teaching us today is
that death "is at the backhand of risk and beauty". Emily even goes on to compare some scenes from the
movie to the book, for example, the scene where Leslie is about to die in the movie is more obvious
because of the music whereas in the book, it seemed more so random and senseless.

http://www.signature-reads.com/2017/02/bridge-terabithia-relevant-today-40-years-ago/

This criticism, written by Valerie Kalfrin, is similar to the first analysis and discusses why Bridge to
Terabithia is still relevant today as it was 40 years ago. Valerie takes more of a personal standpoint with
her analysis, discussing that when it was hard for a friend of hers to deal with a death of another friend,
she gave that friend this book to read. She also goes on to say that the reason this book still holds so much
power is because of its genuine sincerity towards the topic of death. Throughout this article Valerie states
quotes from an interview the author had taken part of in 2011.

http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/Rationale_BridgetoTerabithia.pdf

This criticism, written by Kent Bryson, looks at the story of Bridge to Terabithia and uses theoretical
support from psychologists (Piaget, Rosenblatt, and Kohlberg) to explain why each character acted the
way that they did and why it made sense. He then discusses that the way the novel was written was
brilliant in that it touches on the themes of fantasy, romance and death so that it makes sense for the child
reading the novel to understand the big picture.

https://www.tor.com/2013/09/25/banned-books-week-bridge-to-terabithia-katherine-paterson/

This criticism given by Mari Ness (a famous fantasy writer, insatiable reader and blogger of many
renowned books) gives us the breakdown of why Katherine Paterson's book “A bridge to Terabithia” has
been labeled as a controversial book. For example, “​Bridge to Terabithia​ has the dubious distinction of
being one of the most frequently banned and/or challenged books in the United States, supposedly
because of its references to witchcraft and atheism and a lot of swearing”. She goes on to explain that the
true reason she believes people challenge it is due to the fact that it’s just so completely ​tragic ​and
heartbreaking that and when you are ten, the title just shrieks of false advertising. Lol

https://www.bustle.com/articles/35706-bridge-to-terabithia-the-beloved-ya-tear-jerker-inspired-a-song-pl
us-6-other-things-you-didnt

In an article by “Stephen Shugerman” of Getty Images

Entertainment/Getty Images​, ​Shugerman mentions how fantasy lovers
might've noted that the name of Jesse and Leslie's imaginary kingdom,
Terabithia, sounds oddly close to Terebinthia, the island featured in C.S.
Lewis' ​The Chronicles of Narnia​, and the similarity is no accident —
well, sort of. In 2005, ​Paterson said that she thought she had made the
name up​, but realized, while re-reading ​The Voyage of the Dawn Treader​,
that she'd been inspired by the Lewis creation. Even still, she explained that both her and Narnia's author
likely got the name from the biblical Terebinth tree, so the ​Terabithia​ author was not entirely at fault.

https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/winter98/simmons.html

In an article by ​John Simmons ​labeled “A Bridge Too Far — But Why? ​John Simmons stated that “For the
record, this Paterson novel has been on PFAW’s most wanted list four times in this decade: 7th in 91-92,
6th in 92-93, 8th in 94-95, and 10th in 95-96”. On the long-range hit list, it’s placed 8th or 9th each year
since 92-93. My overall assessment is that ​Bridge to Terabithia ​, winner of the 1978 Newbery Medal,
offers a sensitive, imaginative, and eminently teachable story of the lives of two innocent ten-year-olds
who come from vastly different walks of life but whose friendship is credible, delightful — and ultimately
tragic. He goes on to explain that ​“When I first read the novel, I found myself taken over by a great desire
to share the text with a middle school or junior high class”​. He further explains how this exquisite novel
wound up on PFAW’s hit list year after year? I reviewed the usual reasons one by one. Sexual intimacy?
No way; these two kids offer not even the most subtle sense of sexual attraction. Profane language? Give
me a break. Yes, Jess’ father does use "damn" on three occasions, and Jess’ little sister May Belle does
express her concern that Leslie’s being unchurched may condemn her to hell. These transgressions are
minor indeed and, in fact, you have to read very carefully to note their presence. What about the sudden
death of a ten-year-old? Maybe, but remember that deaths occur in such accepted YA novels as ​The Pig
Man, The Outsiders, Home Before Dark, Sounder, I Am the Cheese ​, ​Stotan! Hatchet, ​and ​Somewhere in
the Darkness ​, to name a representative few. There are also deaths central to the story lines in ​Lord of the
Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Red Badge of Courage ​, and ​A Separate Peace ​, each of which features
young people as protagonists and is widely taught in U.S. high schools.

Teacher Interview with Tom DiTusa 

What do you think would be an appropriate age to read and discuss this book?
● Tom told me that he used this book a couple of years ago when he taught 5th grade. He said that
students loved the book, so he would advise 5th-6th grade. The students are ready to read and
emotionally open for the book.
How would you plan out lessons with this book?
● Tom explained how he would read the book in class, for many reason. He said he would also
have some of the stronger readers read out loud, and advised not to pick on less confident readers.
He said that he wouldn’t focus much on vocabulary, yet instead on the overall meaning of
chapters or what they just read. He also stressed the importance of making sure all students know
the structure of the book (setting, climax, resolution, etc).
● Tom said if it was a small chapter, he would have the students read that at home, but most of the
text they read together as a class. Then he would send home homework questions about what they
read, a couple of direct and more indirect questions. He said that he would do projects in class
 about imagination. Sometimes he would make quizzes up and then have them grade their own
quiz, so they can see what they aren’t understanding as the whole class goes over the quiz.
What are the most important themes you wanted your students to take away from this book?
● Tom said: being an outcast, friendship, and denial are all very important and serious
discussions/themes.
I asked him if the death of one of the main characters in the book was unbearing for the students
● Tom replied that most of these students deal with death within their families, and this book gives
them something to compare their life to. It is not an easy discussion, it’s important and serious
and this book opens up serious conversation within the classroom, which is an important factor to
have in a learning environment.

Problem Posing Questions  

1) In your opinion, do you agree or disagree with this book being one of the top 10 controversial
books and why?
2) Why/what are some of the reasons you would recommend/not recommend this book to a friend?
3) As a teacher, if this book was one that your class had to read and the parents felt their child
should not have to read this book, what are some of the problems you feel need to be addressed
and why? For example, would you explain the subject of religion and how it is usd in this book to
an angry parent?
4) Even though this book was Inspired by a Real-Life Event involving Paterson's son's 8-year-old
female best friend (who was struck and killed by lightning in 1974) and the tragedy (along with a
creek that ran through her town) inspired the author to write a children's novel about friendship
and loss, does the fact that it was inspired/based on a true story make the book acceptable? Why
or why not?