[1] The novel tells the story of fifth grader Jesse Aarons, who becomes friends with his new neighbor, Leslie Burke, after he loses a footrace to her at school.

Paterson drew inspiration for the novel from a real event that occurred in August 1974 when her son's friend was struck and killed by lightning.

[3][5][6] The name of the imaginary kingdom is similar to that of the Narnian island Terebinthia, created by C. S. Lewis in 1951 or earlier for Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

[7]The novel makes a direct reference to The Chronicles of Narnia as a series of books Leslie lends to Jess, in order to help him learn to behave like a king.

They pretend they are the king and queen of a hidden magical kingdom, Terabithia, that can be entered only by swinging over the creek bed on an old rope.

Janice tells Leslie that she is abusively beaten by her father, and her so-called friends have just gossiped about it to the entire seventh grade.

On Thursday morning, Miss Edmunds calls Jess and invites him to Washington, D.C. to visit the Smithsonian Museum.

When he returns home, Leslie is dead: The rope broke as she swung over the creek to Terabithia, hit her head and drowned.

"[9] Children's author Jean Fritz wrote in The New York Times, "With great skill Mrs. Paterson takes Jess to the depths of this nightmare and then brings him back, along with all he has learned in Terabithia—a survivor and certainly equal to the demands.

The symbolism of falling and of building bridges forms a theme throughout the story, which is one of remarkable richness and depth, beautifully written.

"[11] In a retrospective essay about the Newbery Medal-winning books from 1976 to 1985, literary critic Zena Sutherland wrote of Bridge to Terabithia, "The poignant story is all the more effective because Paterson lets Jesse express his grief and guilt rather than telling readers that he feels them.

[13] The challenges stem from death being a part of the plot;[14][15] Jesse's frequent use of the word "lord" outside of prayer;[16] allegations that it promotes secular humanism, New Age religion, occultism, and Satanism;[17] and for use of offensive language.

The second was a theatrical film released on February 16, 2007, directed by the co-creator of Nickelodeon's Rugrats and former Hanna-Barbera animator Gabor Csupo and starring Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Robert Patrick, Bailee Madison, and Zooey Deschanel; the adaptation was done in part by David Paterson himself.

A musical stage adaptation ("supported by a lyrical score") entitled The Bridge to Terabithia is listed for sale by Stageplays.com, credited to Paterson and Stephanie S. Tolan, another children's writer.