Content deleted Content added
Rescuing 6 sources and tagging 1 as dead. #IABot (v1.2.6) |
Geometrian (talk | contribs) Fix, expand, and partially rewrite plot section. |
||
Line 41:
==Plot summary==
The book chronicles the life of an artistic young boy named Jesse Aarons and the burdens and hardships of his home life, such as his duties on his family's farm and the constant agitations and annoyances of his four sisters. Jess has straw-colored hair and long legs.
After further negative experiences with classroom tormentors or rivals, including Gary Fulcher, Jess eagerly anticipates the arrival of music class due to his infatuation for its beautiful young teacher, Miss Edmunds. However, on the day music class begins, he discovers a fondness for Leslie, eccentric and ostracized, and they develop a friendship. After using a rope to swing over a creek on a sunny day, Jess and Leslie decide to design an imaginary sanctuary from the burdens and pains of everyday life. The pair reign as monarchs, calling their domain Terabithia and constructing a small refuge in which their imaginary escapades take place.
At school, the pair are challenged by an older bully named Janice Avery, whom they immensely detest. After Janice steals a package of [[Twinkies]] from Jesse's younger sister May Belle's lunch, they forge a romantic letter under the disguise of Willard Hughes, the object of Janice's infatuation, in conspiracy against her. After the plan's success exposes Janice to public mortification, the triumphant Jesse and Leslie indulge in their victory; however, after encountering a sobbing Janice in the girls' bathroom one day and learning of the abuse to which she is subjected, Leslie develops sympathy for and a friendship with the misunderstood bully. In the meantime, her bond with Jesse also increases powerfully, and they continue to indulge in the pleasures derived from Terabithia, adopting a puppy named Prince Terrien, abbreviated to P.T.▼
▲At school, the pair are challenged by an older bully named Janice Avery, whom they immensely detest. After Janice steals a package of [[Twinkies]] from Jesse's younger sister May Belle's lunch, they forge a romantic letter under the disguise of Willard Hughes, the object of Janice's infatuation,
On being invited to a trip to an art museum with Miss Edmunds, Jesse accepts the offer without notifying Leslie or his parents beforehand. He enjoys the day with his teacher, but upon returning home is horrified to learn that while he was away, Leslie attempted to visit Terabithia on her own and died of drowning when the rope swing broke. A shocked Jesse, incapable of absorbing or accepting the impact or horror of Leslie's sudden death, denies his grief and even his friend's existence, while internally terrified that Leslie may be sentenced to eternal damnation due to her doubts regarding religion. After he miserably accepts the inevitability of her death, Jess is saddened even further by the grief exhibited by her mourning family, who have decided to return to their previous home in Pennsylvania. They grant Jess some of the lumber they are leaving behind. He decides to pay tribute to his deceased friend by crafting a funeral wreath by bending a pine bough into a circle, but before that he discovers a terrified May Belle by the creek, after she has attempted to use a fallen tree to get to Terabithia. After assisting her, he uses the lumber he took from the Burkes' home to build a truly safe bridge. He chooses to fill the void left by Leslie's passing by making May Belle the princess of Terabithia and presumably the queen in future, permitting her to share his sanctuary from then onward. Then, Jess tells May Belle to keep the "mind wide open" and all of the inhabitants of Terabithia welcome their new princess.▼
▲On being invited to a trip to an art museum with Miss Edmunds, Jesse accepts the offer without notifying Leslie or his parents beforehand (Jess's tells his mother while she is half-asleep). He enjoys the day with
Jess decides to pay tribute to Leslie by crafting a funeral wreath, bending a pine bough into a circle. Leaving it in their special pine grove in Terabithia, Jess discovers a terrified May Belle halfway across the creek--having attempted to follow Jess over the fallen tree he used to get to Terabithia after the rope broke--and assists her back. The Burke family grants Jess some lumber (from aborted renovations) they are leaving behind, which he uses to build a more permanent, though rudimentary, bridge. He chooses to fill the void left by Leslie's passing by making May Belle the princess of Terabithia and presumably the queen in future, permitting her to share his sanctuary from then onward (Terabithia had been kept as Jess's and Leslie's secret before). Then, Jess tells May Belle to keep the "mind wide open" and all of the inhabitants of Terabithia welcome their new princess.
==Characters==
| |||