When I read Bridge to Terabithia as a child, it was a brilliant and heartbreaking coming-of-age tale filled to the brim with adventure. Revisiting it as an adult feels like utter magic; Katherine Paterson captures the inner workings of adolescents as though bottling sunshine. Captivating and moreish, I don’t think I could possibly write a review that does its prose justice.

Jess is lonely. As a young boy in a small country town, the boxes he’s being forced into are becoming more claustrophobic by the day. That is, until new girl Leslie turns up, demonstrating exactly how to break out of the boxes, seemingly effortlessly. Together, using their imaginations, they gain the power to create a world of their own as the one they’ve been given fails them.

Tackling complicated themes, Bridge to Terabithia teaches us about loss, the unexpected ways grief manifests, and how those it hurts the most to lose give us the strength to survive the loss. Brilliant, whimsical, poignant, and highly recommended for ages 10+.