Bridge to Terabithia was a really important movie to me. I vividly remember watching it for the first time and I'd go back to it frequently. So it might be nostalgia telling me the movie version is definitely better.

This does a really good job at being simple and direct. It's a great book for ten-ish year-olds to have their first contact with several issues, it's fun and engaging but also really showcases the process of grief and the importance of compassion.

All that being said, because the book stays so much inside Jess's head I don't think it reaches the emotional potential it had. The whimsical touch on Terabithia is great, but because he doesn't really understand or care about the complexities regarding other people in his life you're left wanting more development in other parts.

Then ending after the climax is also way too abrupt, there's barely any time to process the sadness and understand the hopeful and bittersweet tone that the book was meant to leave the reader at.

This is a really heartbreaking/warming read, but tbh I'd be satisfied enough with the movie by itself.