Bridge to Terabithia book for 9 yr old?

[momofmine]

Has anyone read Bridge to Terabithia? Do you think it would be okay for a sensitive 9 yr old? I understand that the friend dies in the book.

Thanks in advance!

[StoriesInTheSoil]

It is a wonderful book but it and "Where the Red Fern Grows" are both books that in my friend group are remembered as the first books that made us cry. It is VERY sad.

[zinemama]

I read it to my 7yo. He's not extra sensitive, though. I think 9 is plenty old enough. Yes, a kid dies. It is a wonderful book.

[ollyoxenfree]

How sensitive?

It's a lovely book, but sad. It's been part of 5th and 6th grade curriculum in a couple of schools my dc have attended, so that's in the range of 9 and 10 y.o.'s. I know one poor kid who studied it 3 years in a row, because he switched schools a couple of times.

[Aubergine68]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

How sensitive?

It's a lovely book, but sad. It's been part of 5th and 6th grade curriculum in a couple of schools my dc have attended, so that's in the range of 9 and 10 y.o.'s. I know one poor kid who studied it 3 years in a row, because he switched schools a couple of times.

This. My daughter read it in school when she was 9.5.

[Jessy1019]

It's a beautiful book. Yes, it's sad, but sadness is a part of life.

My 6 and 3 year olds both liked the movie, which was also very sad.

[momofmine]

Thanks for the replies. I did know it was used in 5th and 6th grades, and I was thinking that was more like 11 and 12 year olds. (Don't most kids turn 12 sometime during the 6th grade year?) I feel like there has been such a huge jump in my child's development ion just the past year, that I imagine 11 and 12 will be quite different. I know sadness is part of life, and I actually love to get really into a book or movie and be so moved that I am bawling. It is somehow cathartic. You feel depleted yet renewed at the end. But at the same time I feel like there's no need to rush the presentation of more mature experiences, when my child is pretty sensitive. I am really just talking out loud here, not debating anyone, just trying to figure out how I actually feel about it. On the one hand, I don't want to be overprotective, on the other hand, I want to be clued in to my particular child.

Thanks for letting me talk out loud!

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by momofmine

I did know it was used in 5th and 6th grades, and I was thinking that was more like 11 and 12 year olds. (Don't most kids turn 12 sometime during the 6th grade year?)

Hmmm - you may be right. I'm sure my dd studied it in 6th grade, and she was 11 then, but she has an early birthday, so there would have been 10 y.o's in her class. That wasn't the first time she'd read it, though. I think she probably read it when she was around age 8. The boy who had studied it 3 years in a row was in that 6th grade class - so he would have first read it when he was 8 or 9 y.o, starting in 4th grade.

FWIW, in some ways I found Tuck Everlasting to be even sadder. In that book, the entire premise is that the friend will never grow old and die, although the protagonist will have a normal life span.

[LiamnEmma]

My now 10 year old read it when he was 8. I can't remember if he read the book or saw the movie first, but he digested both.

[LittleBlessings]

this is a great book for a 9year old