My Son was 10 when he read this book. This is the only book he has literally flung across the room! Let me explain. At the end of the book the girl in the story dies and is creamated and they explain what that means a little. The idea of creamation was not something we had ever discussed and it really upset him. I was baffled by his responce he is normally a very strong young man but this actually brought him to tears. He did not understand why anyone would burn the body of someone they said they loved. he was distrought for days before agreeing to read the rest of this book. Please know he did like the book but that one part can be upsetting and confusing and can easily take a child and their parents off guard if they are not fully prepared. Just know the limits of your child and be there for them to talk to if they do become upset. We have to talk about this stuff with our children eventually why not over a good book. Just be prepared!

I listened to this book on disk with my kids, 12 and 8, which I felt was fine as I knew many of their friends had seen the movie. It is a wonderful book, with some very good themes -- it was good for the kids to hear about kids who were lucky to get one gift for Christmas, who had serious chores that needed to be done without exception (including Christmas,) and who dealt with bullying and hard times using their own smarts. It even touched on the different sides of religion and, of course, the death of a best friend. My biggest issue with this book (aside from the fact I failed to read the back and therefore didn't realize until half way through that one of the main characters was about to die) was the part about Christmas. My 8-year old was a little confused when the author talked about how the parents couldn't afford to give the kids more than one gift from Santa, and I skipped the next chapter when they started talking about how sad it was that the little girl's hope in a guy in a red suit was "sad". I did some fast talking about how odd it was that the parents were so worried about gifts when Santa brought those with him, then moved on. Most of the other issues can be worked with for any age over 8 or 9, as long as the parent is willing to go through each issue either ahead of time or at that time, but wait until they're past the Christmas issue!

A story about a boy and his new friend that make up an imaginay world called Terabithia.

This is a wonderful book. The main characters are well developed and sympathetic. Jess is a likable boy with an admirable sense of morality and courage. He and Leslie's friendship and their ability to bring out the best in one another is also admirable. The plot is believable and clips right along. Jess's introspections throughout, but especially at the end, are inspirational. Jess and Leslie are 10-year-olds, so one would assume this book is appropriate for the average 5th grader. It is not. There are several mature themes (an abusive father, implied drug use and an emotionally wrenching death) and much about Jess's life is difficult and unhappy. Jess's insightful coping with the death of his friend and the realizations that accompany it about the adults in his life are hardly the stuff of your typical pre-adolescent and won't be appreciated by most children under the age of 15 or 16. A great book, but not before high school unless it's accompanied with perspective-supplying adult discussion throughout.