He has a crush on the school music teacher, Miss Edmunds, the only person who encourages him to draw. Secretly, he wants to be an artist, but his father disapproves. Ten-year-old Jesse 'Jess' Aarons has trained all summer to be the fastest runner in his rural school.

The novel also indirectly alludes to the fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain. The novel makes a direct reference to The Chronicles of Narnia as a series of books Leslie lends to Jess, in order to help him learn to behave like a king. However, Lewis probably got that name from the terebinth tree in the Bible, so both of us pinched from somewhere else, probably unconsciously. Lewis, I realized that I had probably gotten it from the island of Terebinthia in that book. Then, rereading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. Lewis in 1951 or earlier for Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The name of the imaginary kingdom is similar to that of the Narnian island Terebinthia, created by C. The novel was inspired by an incident during that time: on August 14, 1974, her son David's best friend, Lisa Christina Hill, died after being struck by lightning in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Katherine Paterson lived for a time in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Lisa Christina Hill (1966-1974), the girl who inspired the novel. It has been adapted for the screen twice: a 1985 PBS TV movie and a 2007 Disney/Walden Media feature film. The novel's content has been the frequent target of censorship and appears at number eight on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books for the decade 1990–2000. The two children create a kingdom for themselves, which Leslie names 'Terabithia.'

He becomes courageous and learns to let go of his frustration. After meeting Leslie, however, his life is transformed. Jesse is an artistic boy from a poorer family who, in the beginning, is fearful and angry. Leslie is a tomboy from a wealthy family, and Jesse thinks highly of her. The novel tells the story of fifth grader Jesse Aarons, who becomes friends with his new neighbor, Leslie Burke, after he loses a footrace to her at school. Paterson drew inspiration for the novel from a real event that occurred in August 1974 when her son’s friend was struck dead by lightning. The book was originally published in 1977 by Thomas Crowell, and in 1978, it won the Newbery Medal. Bridge to Terabithia is a children's novel written by Katherine Paterson, about two children named Leslie and Jesse who create a magical forest kingdom in their imaginations.

Bridge to terabithia book cover