the witch of blackbird pond. elizabeth george speare. (317)

after seeing the goosebumps movie, i went looking for goosebumps books at the library.  unfortunately, they didn't have any, but fortunately the word witch caught my eye, so i decided to check out the witch of blackbird pond.  though it wasn't exactly the kind of horror show i was looking for halloween, it was a wonderful book!

sadly, i never read the witch of blackbird pond, as a kid, but glad i did as an adult. set in the 17th century, the novel tells the story of a young girl, kit.  after the death of her grandfather, she left barbados to live with her aunt and her family in a colony in connecticut.  in barbados, kit lead a life of luxury, but she must adjust to the spartan life style of the purtians. god and work lead life and kid initially has a difficult time adjusting.

the witch part of the books comes when kit befriended the town's "witch", hannah tupper, who lived by blackbird pond.  hannah was a quaker and since their beliefs did not align with that of the purtians, she and her husbands were branded and sent from their previous town.  the people of kit's colony, regarded her as a witch, and people were forbidden to interact with her.  one day, kit sad about getting her cousin  mercy in trouble, ran out toward the pond crying.  hannah took her in and gave her advice. kit, then began visiting hannah regularly, after learning her friend, nate from her voyage to america, was hannah's friend as well.  

things started to go well for kit, the wealthiest boy in colony, wanted to marry her.  she and mercy continue with their school.  however, it all fell apart when kids began to get sick and die and hannah was blamed. kit helped hannah escape only to end up on trial for being a witch!

in the end, it all worked out because hey, this is a children's novel.  there was even a double wedding kind deal and a third engagement, which i found odd, but it was a different time.

this book is a must read for any and every girl.  kit is a wonderful role model for girls, she goes to the beat of her own drum, regardless of the scrutiny of others.  kit, also, has a heart of gold and demonstrates we should always do what is right versus what religion or society may tells us.

this book also gives an important lesson religious tolerance.  someone may not have the same beliefs as us, but that does not make them evil.  also organized religious can do a lot more harm then good when corrupted by those wanting power.

lastly, this book is a great introduction to the topic of the salem witch trials for kids.  it got me interested in the topic and i plan on reading more about these crazy accusations.  it was shocked with the novels initially introduction of witch like behavior. not seemed so silly for people to freak out because kit can swim.  no one was logical and assumed she could because it was customary in barbados.  furthermore, it was crazy to see the accusations that came up in trial, people accused of bewitching animals?!?! i know it made me grateful to have not been born in that era, because i would have definitely been labelled a witch!  it's sad though to think of the women that were burned at stake or drowned on these false accusations. 

this book is a truly great read and a must for everyone, especially women of all ages! 

island of the blue dolphins. scott o'dell. (197)

i decided to finally read island of the blue dolphins because the 4th grade class i was subbing for had read it and their lesson plans included watching the movie and an compare and contrast essay.  since i never read it as a kid, (though grandma bea always tried to get me to read it.  she loved it.  she also wanted me to see the movie, which i never saw), i decided now was the perfect time. plus it helped with my newbery medal mission.

as you can see in the picture, i read an ebook version, but not just any ebook, but one that i checked out via the library!  i went out of town friday, so i didn't have time to go to the library to check it out on saturday.  i considered buying it for my kindle but didn't want to spend $4 when i know i could find a used paperback for $1 (what can i say, i'm cheap.) so i looked for it on overdrive (the app the library uses) and they had it!  so the island of the blue dolphins is the first ebook i checked out from the library.  exciting, i know!  i will always love a physical book but its nice to have ebooks as an option.

island of the blue dolphins is the incredible story of a young girl, karana, that survived on a island by herself for about 18 years.  it is based on an actual person.  prior to my reading, i learned from my friend julianna via her goodreads that the woman this story is based on his buried at the santa barbara mission.  i also learned from my friend thomas that the island of the blue dolphins is one of the channel island.  i am hoping i can take a books and landmarks picture for the island of the dolphins.

karana, was left on the island by herself after a group of aleuts lead by a russian explorer, killed her father and majority of the men from her tribe, after a dispute over payment.  the explorer and aleuts came for otter pellets and then tried to cheat the tribe out of their payment for the hunting.  karana's father was the chief, after his death, the new chief decided to sail to another island for the tribe to migrate too.  he sent ships and the tribe left, but after karana discovered her brother was not on the boat, she went back for him.  i love my little brother, but i don't know if i would be this brave.  she found her brother and they were left stranded together.  then sadly her brother was killed by wild dogs, which left her completely alone.

before i go on, i will add, that i felt there was a lack of emotion in this book.  there was no display of sadness when her father or brother died.  i mean there was big expression of her emotions due to these  these events, everything was stated very matter of fact.  karana, moved on with life rather quickly.  she did want to get revenge on the dogs but i just found it interesting that o'dell did not dwell on these events though they completed changed her life.

karana was extremely resourceful.  though it was forbidden, she had enough common sense to ignore the teachings of the tribe and created her own weapons.  i was also impressed with her ability to hunt and gather for herself.  if  was left on the island i would have died after a few days.  i actually would have probably drowned myself.  it was amazing to see what she endured and how she survived.  its even crazier when one realizes that this was based on an actual person and that woman lived off the land like she did for almost 20 years.  granted it wasn't that much of a change of life for her, unlike if it happened to someone today, but i mean the fact that she didn't go crazy from being by herself is what amazed me.

in the end, she is discovered by a priest and taken to live at the santa barbara mission.  if i was child, i would have been happy for her, but as an adult, i know what mission life entailed.  sadly, i learned via wikipedia that the real woman died after only seven weeks on the mainland.  

still an incredible story and a must read for all kids.

the movie on the other hand was a poor adaption.  i am actually shocked hollywood hasn't done a remake.  i mean that girl from that whale movie a while back would have been perfect. the movie cut out a lot of interesting parts like the elephant seals and devilfish.  i am assuming they were missing because they didn't have trained animals or the technology to fake it.   but yes a remake should happen that is truer to the book.  i am shocked after the success of "castaway", this wasn't made for an kid audience.  hmmm.  i wish i knew someone in hollywood to pitch this too.

all in all, read the book and avoid the movie.  the 4th grade class i subbed for voted this way as well.

when you reach me. rebecca stead. (190)

*sorry this picture is blurry.  i didn't realize how blurry it was until i return it.  but it makes it feel alittle otherwordly which is perfect for this novel, so it works.

i picked up when you reach me because it is a newbery medal winner.  i also enjoyed the cover art.  i had no idea what the book was about, but that made for a better read.  (so if you haven't read it, stop here, seriously everything will spoil this book for you!)

when you reach me is the story of a girl, miranda, and the letters about her life she had to write due to secret notes she has received.  the letters are from a stranger and are suppose to help save her friend.  a series of random things happen to her prior to the notes appearing. first, her best friend sal stopped talking to her.  this happened after an even stranger event, a boy just randomly walked up to sal, as he and miranda were walking home, and punched him in the stomach.  a crazy homeless man appeared on her street corner, talking to himself, and doing high kicks. the kids are kept in at lunchtime at school, because a naked man is seen running around down the street.  all of these things seemed really odd, but they all come together in the end.  (i have to admit i missed the foreshadowing of the naked man, i just assumed it was random little anecdote.)

in the end it is discovered that all of these weird events and the notes have to do with time travel!

before i go on, i have to share that what i loved most about this book was the inclusion of madeline l'engle 's a wrinkle in time.  a wrinkle in time is miranda's favorite book in the story.  she carried it around and is constantly rereading it.  it is due to this book that marcus and miranda first discuss time travel.  marcus pointed out that there was an error in the book.  if meg and charles wallace had returned 5 minutes before everything had occured wouldn't they have seen themselves land in the garden before they left?  this is true.  marcus was right.  and future marcus was right because he time-traveled back to safe sal!

i won't go into detail about what occurred but in short, future marcus saved sal.  and stead did an excellent job of tying everything together. as i mentioned before, i had no idea the naked man in the street was due to the time travelling.  i loved how everything came full circle, though i was sadden by future marcus' fate but he was an old man and ready for it.

when you reach me had additional storylines.  miranda's mom was picked to go on $20,000 pyramid and part of the novel was her preparation for the show.  since miranda and sal are no longer friends, she became friends with colin and annamarie.  the three of them get jobs at a sandwich shop.  and of course, like any adolescent story, there is always some kind of drama between friends, which occurs between miranda, annamaire and annamarie's ex-best friend, julia.  these additional stories not only added to the story but also distracted from the time travel plot as well.  well played, stead.

the thing that i found interesting, was the issue of race and class and the prejudices that a reader reads with.  i am not sure if this was stead's intent or if i am just super racist.  i mean the latter is true, so that is probably the case.  i was confronted with my racism when jimmy called julia swiss miss, in reference to the hot chocolate, though miranda meant it about her trips to switzerland.  up until then i had not realized that julia was black.  i had assumed since she was rich that she was white.  here is where class became an issue as well.  (class was addressed directly with miranda comparing her home and life to that of annamarie's who is wealthier).  i know how horrible of me, but i mean the girl talked about going to switzerland, isn't that where white people go on a vacay (okay, i am racist, sorry). i then realized i was being extremely racist as i read.  i believe miranda or her mom was described as white, though now i am second guessing everything.  since she was white, i assumed that sal was white.  i also assumed that the boys that caused trouble on the corner was black as was the crazy man on the corner.  also i assumed marcus was black too since he punched sal.  however, race was not mentioned for anyone else except julia, oh and richard (miranda's mom's boyfriend being german).  well explicitly anyway, i just read on a website that it was implied that jimmy was asian but that went over my head. i am embarrassed that i could be so horrible with stereotypes but i am.  again well played, stead for having the read confront the prejudices they have about race so directly though it was presented subtlety.  

overall, when you reach me was a great book and very worthy of it's newbery medal.  if you haven't read it you should.  it has also inspired me to reread a wrinkle in time, which is perfect because the graphic novel version has been sitting on my bookshelf since january.    

the westing game. ellen raskin. (184)

i sub for a teacher that is the advisor for "battle of the books", a competition held by the kern county school district. for "battle of the books", students read books all year and then are tested on them at the competition.  it sounds amazing to me and i wish that it was around when i was in elementary school.  i came across the westing game in their pile of books to be read.  i had never heard of it before but the premise sounded interesting, heirs compete to win a fortune.  in fact, as i read it, i thought it sounded like the premise for a reality tv show.  i am shocked no one has turned it into one.  it would be one of these fake reality shows where everyone is an actor except one person and the storyline follows the book.  maybe the produce would give the participant a required reading list with the westing game on it and see if s/he puts two and two together.  

back to the novel, the westing game is also a newbery medal winner and this was my motivation to finally pick it up.

the westing game definitely kept me on my toes.  i assumed since it is a children's book, i would be able to read between the lines and figure it out but in fact i was not that good.  i knew that "america the beautiful" held the secret to the mystery but i was too lazy to actually do the leg work.  i had assumed that the real clues were what were missing too but again didn't try to sort it out.  i did pick up on some of the foreshadowing, the look-a-likes and weird notes but again didn't put in a deep analysis to try to figure it all out before turtle did.

i loved all of the odd and eccentric characters.  turtle of course being my favorite, even though she kicked shins.  i also loved how her nickname even ended up being a clue.  (i don't want to give much away just in case some of you haven't read it.)

again without giving anything away, i loved everyone happily ever after endings!!!

all in all, an enjoyable book and one i would have definitely loved as a kid.

holes. louis sachar. (181)

i remember learning about holes when the movie came out with shia labeouf.  i didn't see the movie or read the book.  i was in high school when the book came out and in college when the movie came out, so i didn't think much of it.  i wasn't above shia labeouf, i used to love watching even stevens, it just wasn't in my realm of interest at the time.  i also was a bit sexist, a story about boys digging holes at some prison-like camp did not sound interesting to me.  however, fast forward years later when i discovered that louis sachar wrote the book!  i loved sachar's wayside school books, they were my absolute favorite growing up!  i especially loved that one chapter in the sequel that you had to read backwards!  how cool!  based on my love of sachar, i finally decided to give holes a chance.

i decided to make it a winter break read with brother bear.  it started out well but when i left to vegas for new years, he didn't keep up with his reading and when i came back, he had lost interested.  i, in fact, didn't finish then.  i also dropped by copy (it cost me 50 cents) in a puddle when moving so that didn't help with my finishing of it.  then i sat in a line for about 8 hours to see shia labeouf do this art installation (i sadly did not get in) but that motivated me to give holes a read so i could watch the movie on netflix.

so i buckled down and read it in a day and it was amazing.  i was a bit disappointed in myself for being so judge-y before.  i am now trying to get my brother to finish it.  my mom is reading it with him.  it is a great children's novel and deserved the newbery medal (i have also started this mini mission to read all of the newbery award winners).  it is a wonderful book demonstrating the importance of creating your own destiny, how sometimes you have to lend fate a hand to obtain your destiny.

without giving too much away (because you should really read it), holes is the story of a young boy stanley yelnats (a palindrome).  bearing the curse of his "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather", stanley was sent to a camp, camp green lake, for "stealing"shoes.  he didn't steal them but they fell from the sky and hit him on the head, an example of that curse in action.  at the camp which is a correctional facility for boys, stanley spent his days digging holes and trying to avoid yellow-spotted lizards.  stanley befriended another boy, zero, who he taught how to read. zero and stanley then go on a random adventure which helped both boys fulfill their destiny.  seriously, the ending was great, everything came full circle.

what i enjoyed most about holes is that it also included the backstories of stanley's great-great-grandfather and town of green lake.  the historian in me enjoyed reading these backstories and seeing how they all came together in the end.  i have always loved books that allowed me to see how point a and b resulted in c.  

stanley's great-great-grandfather's backstory takes the reader to latvia, where the reader discovers the cause of the curse.  stanley's great-great=grandfather was in love with a girl.  he asked his friend, a gypsy, madame zeroni for help.  she helped him but he doesn't hold up his end of the bargain and he and his generations become cursed.

stanley's family is also tied to the backstory of green lake because his great-grandfather was robbed by the bandit, kissin' kate barlow.  camp green lake stands where the town of green lake used to exist.  green lake was not always a desert, it too was cursed.  kate barlow was not always a bandit, in fact, she was the schoolteacher of the town.  she became a bandit, after she fell in love with sam, an african-american onion seller.  since interracial relationships were not accepted at that time, the town turned against kate and sam.  i don't want to spoil the story for those who haven't read it but kate became a bandit and the city dried up.  i also want to add kudos to sachar to promoting interracial relationships in this book!

these backstories are sad, but as i mentioned before it all comes together in the end and leaves you going wow!  it reminds you of how crazy life can be and how it the end if your heart is in the right place and you try your best, it will all work out for you.  

i want to add that holes was listed in a buzzfeed post about books you should read based on your favorite childhood novel.  their suggestion was junot diaz's the brief and wondrous life of oscar wao, which i absolutely loved.  yes, as buzzfeed says 

Both Holes and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao read as modern mythology, featuring two curse-afflicted protagonists who can’t catch a break. They’re tales of misfits and survival, and the cruelty that Oscar faces as an overweight Dominican-American teen obsessed with sci-fi is just as harsh and alienating as that of Stanley Yelnats’ prison camp.

however, i feel a better fit for this book would have been joanthan safran foer's everything is illuminated.  both stories have family myths especially that pertaining to a grandfather's legacy.  both include a story with a gypsy (okay that is kinda of a loose connection.)  but i did i see parallels between stanley and zero's relatinship and alex and jonathan's relationship.  oscar was too much of longer, while stanley learned the importance of friendship.  (though i have to admit, i don't remember too much from the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, so buzzfeed is probably right, i just have to add in my 2 cents.  i mean oscar wao is a wonderful book and should be read, i was just reminded of everything is illuminated as i read.  

but back to holes, read the book!!!

the watsons go to birmingham-1963. christopher paul curtis.

yesterday in a last minute scramble to read something for black history month (my original plan was to read black boy because my best friend tiffany had given me a copy but that didn't work out), i borrowed the watsons go to birmingham-1963 from the classroom i subbed in (thank you again gina!).  the book received both the newbery honor and the coretta scott king honor.  based on these honors, i knew i had picked a great read in honor of black history month.

the watsons go to birmingham-1963 is the story about a black family, nicknamed the weird watsons.  our narrator was the middle child kenny (of kenneth), a cock-eyed boy that loves to read.  he had two siblings, a younger sister joey (joetta) who was very loving and protective of her brothers, and an older brother by (byron) by that was a juvenile delinquent.  

the first half of the book is the story of kenny's life.  we get to know his family.  his mother was originally from the south, a worrywart when it comes to winter and strict (to stop by from playing with matches, she burned his finger to show him the harm it does first hand!). his father was a jokester, a fun dad but strict when he needed to be.  kenny would have been bullied all of the time because he was a gifted reader and his eye but his wasn't because as mentioned before by was a juvenile delinquent and head thug of the school so people left kenny alone.

by was constantly in trouble, he considered himself a "cool daddy".  he ditched school, cussed, played with matches, etc.  in a hilarious episode, he relaxed his hair, he wanted mexican hair!   the parents' jokes about this were great, his mother introduced him as their long lost son from mexico when showing his dad what he had done!  and then his father shaved his head afterwards introduced him as their long lost son from siam, yu watson!!! lol.  but jokes aside, his mother did give him a great lecture about him being happy with the hair god gave him verse trying to be something he wasn't with chemicals.

all of by's trouble resulted in the family heading to birmingham because by was to stay with their grandma sands (their mother s mother) for the summer to shape up.  as the family prepped for the trip, i discovered something i never knew existed . . . record players in cars! kenny's dad had a record player put in their car for their trip, at first i assumed it was just a radio but i googled.  and yes! people had actual record players in their cars!  they were small and played 45s but still crazy.  i assumed a record player would be inconvenient in the car but people had them!

the family was at risk in birmingham, kenny's father explained to him the racism and violence that was occurring in the south but reassured him that they would be safe.

once in birmingham, by began to soften. he was respectful towards his grandmother and more open with the family.  kenny does not have the same type of experience in birmingham.  he had an near death experience having almost drowned due to a whirlpool.  based on a story by tried to spook him with kenny imagined that wool pooh, winnie the pooh's evil twin brother, was the one that grabbed him and tried to kill him.  by saved kenny but they do not share with the family what had occurred.

then one sunday, the church that joey attended with family friends was bombed.  the whole family ran to the church in search of her.  kenny entered the church and saw what he imagined to be joey's shoe and assumed his sister was dead.  he saw wool pooh again but this time he took his sister.  

kenny returned home and his sister, joey finds him.  he at first thought joey was a ghost, wool pooh bringing her around for her final good-byes but it really was her! she survived.  it turned out that joey stepped out to the church porch for a minute and thought she saw kenny waving to her and so she followed what she thought was him.  regardless of what really occurred, joey was safe!

the family returned home, even by, but not all was well.  due to what he witnessed in the church kenny fell into a depression.  he disappeared behind the couch hoping that magic would save him (by called it a magical hospital for their pets).  his family tried their best to help but in the end it was by that helped kenny.  by helped kenny realize that there is no understanding racism and that life is unfair but instead of becoming depressed by it you have to move on.  it was wonderful advice that by gave to him that could be apply to anyone. it was also great to see by growing up and being a great young man.

this is an excellent story for children and young adults to read.  by connecting with kenny through his trials at school and interactions with friends and family, they are able to view the racism of the 1960's filtered through his eyes.  it becomes a more personal experience than facts they can read in a textbook.  

furthermore, curtis did a great job of making real life connections in the epilogue.  he reminds the readers that victims of racial violence in the 1960's had family members that cared for them and they suffered reprecutions due to their deaths.  futhermore, in the closing paragraph he goes onto explain the importance of questioning unfairness in society and trying to make a change for the better, this desire for a better world is what makes someone a heroes.  i think that is important message for anyone, regardless of age.  we are all capable of making the world a better place.

the waitrons go to birmingham-1963 is a great book for young minds and perfect for black history month but should be regardless if its february or not.

all in all, a wonderful book not only for black history month but for any month!

flora & ulysses. kate dicamillo. k.g. campbell. (170)

i follow the new york public library (@nypl) on instagram and they posted the winner of the newbery medal award for 2014:

so of course, i immediately went and requested the flora & ulysses! i was also shocked to discover that delano actually had it and i didn't have to wait for it to come.

i was very excited about the book on cover and page flipping.  first, it is about a girl and a squirrel! adorable!  second, it is written by kate dicamillo who also wrote newbery medal winner the tale of despereaux, which i haven't read but have a copy to read.  and third, it is part graphic novel!  i thought this was clever because kids the graphic novel part would attract kids but majority of the book is real text.

my excitement was soon met with disappointment.  though an interesting premise, i didn't completely enjoy the story myself so it did not seem newbery medal worthy, but i can see why it would appeal to kids.

flora & ulysses is the story of a girl flora and ulysses, a squirrel has super powers after he is sucked up by a vacuum, ulysses 2000x (yes, he is named after the vacuum.) his superpowers are super strength, ability to understand humans and communicate with humans via typing, flying, and writing poetry.  i really loved the idea of him writing poetry.  he is revived after his accident by flora, a self described cynic.  she is an avid reader of a comic book and that is how she discovered ulysses is a superhero.  the books is their adventure as they discover what ulysses can do.  oh and i should add that ulysses, arch-nemesis is flora's mother.  she wanted ulysses dead for fear that he had rabies.

the characters in the story are great.  i loved that flora was a cynic and gained so much knowledge from a column in the back of the comic book called terrible things can happen to you.  it would make a great companion book to this novel.  she was a very clever child.  ulysses is a poetry-writing squirrel, need i say more? just read his poem:

words for flora

nothing

would be easier without 

you,

because you 

are 

everything,

all of it--

sprinkles, quarks, giant donuts, eggs sunny-side up--

you

are the ever-expanding

universe 

to me.

(seriously the sweetest poem! i would actually take a book of his poetry as a companion to this novel as well.)

my favorite character had to be dr. meerscham, flora's father's neighbor, she was eccentric but filled with truth.  i loved the mystic way she shared stories, for example,

all things are possible. when i was a girl in blundermeecen, the miraculous happened every day. or every other day. or every third day. actually, sometimes it did not happen at all, even on the third day. but still, we expected it. you see what i'm saying? even when it didn't happen, we were expecting it. we knew the miraculous would come.

i loved that she had a painting of a giant squid attacking a boat to remind her that "loneliness makes us do terrible things".  but the best that came from her and what i will steal from her to used is what she used instead of good-bye growing up in blundermeecen, "i promise to always turn back towards you."  so sweet.

i know that my praise of characters seems to contradiction my lack of praise for the book, but even with these wonderful characters the book lacked an interesting storyline and plot.  i became bored with the book, the incident at the restaurant was ho-hum and i think that was meant to be the first amazing adventure.  even the climax when flora's mother squirrel-napping ulysses wasn't all that nail bitting or exciting.  dicamillo had a great cast but just did not know how to direct them.  the episodes of each chapter were good but didn't make for a great book.  

i have to add this book was great in terms of vocabulary.  there were words that i had to look up!  if a kid takes the time to look up words they come across in this book, it could build their vocabulary.

it was a good read but not a great one, but still check it out.  it did win the newbery medal, so maybe i am the one that is off versus vice versa.

i 

the bridge to terabithia. katherine paterson.

i never read "bridge to terabithia" as a kid but i always saw it at the library.  i avoided it as a kid because it seemed too fantasy for me (which it turned out not to be).  however, now i regret judging a book by its title because i missed out on a great book as a kid.  

about a year ago, i came across the movie, it was on ktla, one of those sunday afternoon movies.  i watched it, primarily because zooey deschanel is in it, and it left me in tears.  i cried my heart out and realized that i needed to read the book.  i bought it at the goodwill but it sat on my bookshelf for a while.  while researching banned books for banned books week i noticed it on the list so decided to finally read it.

and before i go, zooey deschanel was the perfect person to play miss edmunds the music teacher.  miss edmunds was described as:

her long swishy black hair and blue blue eyes.  she could play the guitar like a regular recording star and she had this soft floaty voice that made jess squish inside.  lord, she was gorgeous.

totally, zooey right?

also, i loved annasophia robb as leslie but i wished they had made her hair a boyish cut and dressed her poor (even though she was rich), which is how it was in the book.  but other than that a great adaption.

if you haven't read "bridge to terabithia" please stop by right now and go read it.  there are spoilers ahead.

"bridge to terabithia" is the story of two fifth graders, jesse and leslie and their unlikely friendship.  leslie is a new kid at school and unconventional.  her parents are considered "hippies" by jesse's parents, they are both successful writers but they moved to the country to live off of the land.  at first, jesse was jealous of leslie because she beat him in a race.  he was also hesitant because she was a little different from the rest of the kids.  she didn't watch tv and was intelligent (sad how smart makes you different versus the norm) but he soon saw that she needed a friend and helped her out at school.  i should add, jesse is a little different from the other kids at school.  he is sensitive, well-mannered boy who secretly likes to draw and loves music class.  jesse saved leslie from the school bully, janice avery, and after that they became friends and started hanging out everyday afterschool (they are neighbors).

there is a woods near their home, and one day they crossed over the creek with a rope swing and created their own mythical land, terabithia.  leslie, who is well-read, likened their mythical place to nardia, and started sharing books with jesse.  leslie came up with all of these mythical creatures and areas and jesse felt less creative in contrast, but they still have fun.

they had typical kid adventures.  they get revenge on the school bully for stealing jesse's kid sister's twinkie, but then leslie befriended her and discovered that she was a bully due to abuse at home.  as a reader, you are happy for jesse and leslie and their friendship.

and then you are hit with a curveball.  i was prepared for it because of the film, but when i watched the film, it had me in tears.  jesse went to the museum for the day with miss edmunds (which in itself is creepy but i guess it was a different time?) and when he came back, he finds out that leslie is dead.  yes, dead!  it was raining and she had an accident swinging on the rope.  it was devasting reading about jesse dealing with her death.  he was uncertain about his feelings and how to mourn and what to do.  in the end, he does get closure, he created a bridge to terabithia and shared the kingdom with his little sister.

"bridge to terabithia" is a wonderful book but sadly, it is on the banned books list.  the reasons its listing are death and atheism (leslie doesn't believe in god or go to church).  two things that i think children should not be shielded from, i don't have kids but i was a kid and like i have seen in maurice sendak's books and his documentary, it's better to be honest.  

i first want to discuss the "atheism", which i actually read as being in support of spirituality.  leslie is an atheist and doesn't go to church.  but one day she joins jesse and his family.  jesse and his sister who go to church every week are bored at the service, jesse spends his worship time counting things.  while leslie, the atheist, finds the story of jesus beautiful even likens it to lincolm and socrates.  furthermore, more when leslie talks about the crufixtion of christ with jesse and may belle they focused on the gory details while she understood the higher meaning in it.  she even tells them, "you believe in it, but you hate it.  i don't have to believe in it and i think it's beautiful".  a pretty deep thought for a kid, but a demonstration of the importance of following rules of a church and being considered religious but lacking any spiritual (and i think more important) connection to god.  leslie's "atheism" then demonstrated the importance of finding the beautiful within god instead of going through the motions.

since leslie doesn't believe in god, may belle is frightened that she will go to hell for not believing when she died.  i thought this was an interesting topic because the reader knows that leslie was a good person and would not end up in hell.  again i think it reinforces the idea of its more important to have good works here on earth versus having blind faith in god.

this discussion on spirtuality may go unnoticed by a child, but the topic of death is a main focus and probably the main reason, this book is banned.  as a kid, i was frightened of death.  i used to pray at night for god to keep my grandparents alive.  i was also petrified of mankind's demise.  it must have been due to a science lesson but at night, i would imagine that the sun no longer existed and how mankind would eventually die out like the dinosaurs due to lack of food.  i never shared this with anyone but i would think about this all the time, as a 5th/6th grader.  furthermore, since adults treat death as a taboo with kids, instead of protecting them from death, it just makes death more frightening.  kids need to understand that death is a fact of life, there is no way to avoid it so we should not be frightened of it.  and if you scared of death, its okay because others are too.  

i learned online that paterson was inspired to write "bridge to terabithia" after her son's best friend was strucked by lightning and died.  this book was meant to help children deal with death.  it is supposed to explain to them something that even baffles adults.  it demonstrates that there is no one way to mourn and that you will experience maby different feelings.  it also shows that adults have a difficult time dealing with death as well.  i can admit that even with my thirty years of life, i never know what to say when someone loses a loved one and am still scared of those around me dying.  however the only difference is that now as an adult i understand i am not the only one who has these worries.  

i am glad i read this as an adult but really wish i read it as a kid.  i also hope that kids do read this book.  by reading "bridge to terabithia", the reader learns an important life lesson and if read as child, it will last them their lifetime.

ps food for thought:  many children's books are banned because of death as a topic.  however, every disney movie has a dead parent especially in the recent years.  in "lion king", we see mufasa's death.  "finding nemo", scene with nemo's mom was intense for me and i was an adult when i saw it.  however there is never a ban on them and parents normally buy movie merchandise and take them to disneyland to ride rides based on the movie.