Bridge to Terabithia

I've beeb raiding the YA section of my local Chapters and there are some amazing finds in there - [un]fortunately it seems that folks like me tend to consume a lot of that material as opposed to the younger audience for which it was intended. I love these types o fmovies/books - except Eragon - and I'm looking forward to seeing it on the big screen.

'Bridge..' was required reading for both of my kids.
They hated it.

As my son put it "I hated the ending...I didn't need to read that....it ruined my whole semester. I think some of the kids are going to need counseling."

My daughter hated the ending too. Same reason. And no class discussion about an ending that seems to have troubled every child I know who has read it.

But it is a well written book. Perhaps there should be some teacher's guide along with it?

I remember reading that book as a young'un.

I didn't care so much for the ending either, but looking back it was a beautiful story.

I loved that book. I don't remember how old I was when I originally read it, though, so that probably makes a difference. It looks like in the new film version they're really playing up the fantasy element (at least based on the previews), which is virtually nonexistent in the books.

Interesting points, though: I was sifting through an early education textbook, on teaching literature. Bridge to Terabithia is an example used throughout the text, and the authors ran a little case study. Younger kids (about 5 or 6, I believe) really liked the book, but weren't bothered by Lindsay's death. They either thought she didn't really die, or was resurrected somehow and by the end was waiting for Jess in Terabithia.

Older kids the age of the characters (10 or 12), hated the book mostly due to Lindsay's death. Boys and girls equally thought the characters were "too country," and while girls wanted a best friend like Jess, boys thought the book was "too romantic."

I reread it a few days ago, and I still think it's fantastic.

ooh, I loved Terabitha as a child. I'm wondering how Disney handles the ending. The promos I keep seeing are selling this as a light, fun fantasy and I keep wondering how parents in the theaters are going to react when they see the darker parts of the story.

I read Terabithia when I was in fourth grade, I believe. It was my favorite book. I loved it. I don't remember much about it. Now that I'm seeing the previews for the Disney movie, I want to reread it, because I don't remember any imaginary creatures or fantasy at all!

I know I was young when I read it, and I know that I loved it. I have to add that to my "must have" list. MMMMMM!

It has been a while since I read the novel, but wasn't Terabithia just the place the kids escaped to to avoid the real world problems in their life, which were most of the plot.

I could be totally misinterpretting the previews or mis-remembering the book, but the two do not seem to match.

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You're right. The fantasy images were mostly glossed over in the book. And I don't think the film will differ much. I think they're taking advantage of special effects so we can visualize Terabithia like the kids do, and playing it way up in the previews thanks to success of recent Harry Potter/Narnia/Eragon films.

Just another marketing tool, but I think the film itself will follow much of the book.

When I saw the previews, I was shocked, because I know the book doesn't play up the fantasy so much. I probably won't go and see it at the theater, because I don't go and see movies all that much. I will probably wait until it comes out on pay per view.

I loved the book though and will read it to my daughter when she gets a little older. Then, hopefully, when she's ready, she can read it herself.

I loved the book too, and read it as an adult - and cried at the end.
I hope the film doesn't go overboard with special effects, because I think they would detract from the story.
(But then, Disney totally ruined a Mary Stewart book for me when they made it into a film with Hayley Mills and totally changed the plot. Damn, I've forgotten the title - Greek island; she gets tied up in a windmill)

Evaine said:

I loved the book too, and read it as an adult - and cried at the end.
I hope the film doesn't go overboard with special effects, because I think they would detract from the story.
(But then, Disney totally ruined a Mary Stewart book for me when they made it into a film with Hayley Mills and totally changed the plot. Damn, I've forgotten the title - Greek island; she gets tied up in a windmill)

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Something about the Moon. Moonspinners? Something like that? I know just the one you mean.

Wow I remember reading this book a couple of years ago.

I had the honor of working with Katherine Paterson (a client of a Curtis Brown agent) and she is a ridiculously nice and kind person. I'm so excited about the movie.

So I'm not crazy. I was read the book by my grade six teacher in class, and I totally didn't remember any of those fantasy things. I remembered them playing make believe, but it wasn't like it was a real world or anything. Well it will be interesting to see whether the ads are just hyping up the special effects, and really the movie is true to the book, or if they've basically changed it. I should probably read the book again I guess.

I hope the movie does the book justice. I have a real attachment to the book. It's brilliant.

I read it when I was 8, on the recomendation of my neighbor. It was the first book that ever made me cry, but I loved it. Don't remember much of it anymore, I'm afraid-- I think I'll have to reread before the movie comes out.

This book also made me cry - as an adult. I didn't read it as a child, although it probably would have helped me a lot. I think it is definitely a classic and important story. I read another of her books that is supposed to be a classic too after this one and don't feel the same way about it as I do Terabithia. In fact, I still strongly hate it.

Katherine Paterson spoke at a conference last weekend that a friend of mine attended. The fantasy shown in the previews is supposedly a very small part of the film and near the end. She says it still portrays the story in the way she intended.

There's going to be a lot of explaining going on if the previews are what kids are expecting to see for the movie! Narnia this is not.

Disney's marketing people released deliberately misleading ads in the hope of attracting children who like fantasy movies. It worked on me; I read the book last week, after having seen the ads, and I was hugely disappointed. The writing was fine, but that sort of story is not at all what I enjoy reading. I thought I was getting a fantasy, and instead I got a real-life coming-of-age tale. Bleh.

If you've read the book, this probably won't spoil the movie for you. Read at your own risk:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=40014