Thursday, March 24, 2011

Reading to my inner child


My parents never censored or augmented my reading, so I grew up with fairly eclectic tastes.

Recently, one of my co-workers gave me a copy of Bridge to Terabithia.

It's one of the young adult novels I missed while I was likely reading the entire Happy Hooker series.

If you haven't read it, run out and get yourself a copy. For one thing, I guarantee you a good cathartic cry. I also guarantee a renewed appreciation for conveying complex concepts in simple terms. It's an art form -- like this nearly perfect sentence:

Sometimes you need to give people something that's for them, not just something that makes you feel good giving it.

Or this:
It's like the smarter you are, the more things can scare you.

Maybe all this perfection is why Bridge to Terabithia won the Newberry Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for Children. And it's probably why several generations of children -- and adults -- have responded to the timeless truth of its words.

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