Welcome to the beta version of Shelfari’s new Book Detail pages!
These pages are editable by the community, so please contribute! Click here to learn more about this feature. We’d love to hear your feedback.
Description
A secret world of their own Jess Aaron's greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new kid, a new girl, boldly crosses over to the... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Summary
Jess Oliver Aarons Jr. was squashed in the middle of a family of sisters, his mom, and his dad. Ever day his father went all the way to Wahington for his job, and he came back late every day, too tired to speak. All summer Jess had been getting up early in the morning to practice running. He... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Cast of Characters
- Jess Oliver Aarons Jr.: Squashed in the middle of a family made up of sisters, Jess Aarons is in his own world. But then suddenly he gets pulled back into reality and boredom...until he meets Leslie Burke.
- Leslie Burke: Leslie is "an extraordinary student" teachers would say. On the first day of school she, the new kid creamed all of the boys in the running race. From then on all the kids entitled her as weird. No one was friends with her, no one but Jess Aarons.
- Joyce Ann Aarons: Joyce Ann who sucks her thumb and hollers when someone calls her, "Just a baby".
- May Belle Aarons: A sassy little girl who worships the ground that Jess walks on. Everywhere he goes, she assumes that she should go too.
- Miss Edmunds: Every Friday all the kids look forward to hearing the strum of guitar chords, the beautful hum of Miss Edmunds. Jess is secretly in love with the beautiful Miss Edmunds, her mesmirizing voice enchants Jess as she sings and claps her hands for the other kids to join in.
- Prince Terrien: A small, friendly, hyper puppy who yaps at your feet. A christmas gift from Jess to Leslie.
Memorable Quotes
-
“Jess drew the way some people drank whiskey. The peace would start at the top of his muddled brain and seep down through his tired and tensed-up body. Lord, he loved to draw.”
-
“It was Leslie who had taken him from the cow pasture into Terabithia and turned him into a king. He had thought that was it. Wasn't king the best you could be? Now it occurred to him that perhaps Terabithia was like a castle where you came to be knighted. After you stayed for a while and grew strong you had to move on. For hadn't Leslie, even in Terabithia, tried to push back the walls of his mind and make him see beyond to the shining world—huge and terrible and beautiful and very fragile? (Handle with care—everything—even the predators.)”
First Sentence
"Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, bariptity, bariptity-Good. His dad had the pickup going."
Table of Contents
One - Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr
Two - Leslie Burke
Three - The Fastest Kid in the Fifth Grade
Four - Rulers of Terabithia
Five - The Giant Killers
Six - The Coming of Prince Terrien
Seven - The Golden Room
Eight - Easter
Nine - The Evil Spell
Ten - The Perfect Day
Eleven - No!
Twelve - Stranded
Thirteen - Building the Bridge
Authors & Contributors
- Katherine Paterson (Author)
Awards
- Newbery Medal (1978, winner)
Popular Tags
See all 50 tags
Books with Additional Background Information
List the books that contain additional information about this book.
If you have any suggestions for how we can improve this page or if there are sections that you would like us to add, please let us know.
