Youth Book Club Kit Questions s4

Youth Book club Kit Questions

Bridge to Terabithia By Katherine Paterson

1. Why is running so important to Jess? Do you have an activity you feel passionately about? What is it and why does it matter so much?

2. Jess’s mother appears to treat him quite differently than she treats his four sisters. How does that make Jess feel about himself? How does that make him feel about this mother? Have your parents done things that triggered similar feelings in you?

3. Meeting Leslie seems to change Jess’s feelings about running. Why? How does that influence his feelings toward her?

4. How does Jess fell about being labeled the “crazy little kid that draws all the time”? How do you feel if people label you for a particular talent or skill you have, or because of your appearance or how you dress?

5. Leslie and Jess have many similarities, but they are also pretty different. What traits do or don’t they have in common? What specific qualities does Leslie have that Jess admires, envies or wishes he had? How can you tell?

6. Why is Leslie unhappy? Does she feel comfortable with the other kids at school besides Jess? Why or why not?

7. Why do Jess and Leslie create Terabithia? What does Terabithia represent for them? Have you ever had a secret place like that?

8. How are Leslie’s parents different from other parents? How does that make Leslie feel? How do you think you would feel to have parents like hers?

9. Jess and Leslie both have difficult relationships with their mothers, but for different reasons. Why is Jess’s relationship with his mother so hard? What about Leslie? Why don’t she and her mother get along?

10. Why was Jess angry with Leslie when he first hears about her death? Why doesn’t he want to go to the funeral? What makes him stop being angry with her for dying? Have you ever felt that way about someone close to you who dies? 11. What did Leslie’s friendship teach Jess? The book says, “It was up to him to pay back to the world in beauty and caring what Leslie had loaned him in vision and strength.” What does that mean?

12. How do you think Jess will live his life differently because of his friendship with Leslie, or will he? What do you think he will do with his life?