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We meet Jesse Oliver Aarons Jr.
We meet Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr, a young boy who lives on a farm with his sisters. He likes drawing and he wants to be the fastest kid in the school, and practices running every morning. -
“Jess drew the way some people drank whiskey. The peace would start at the top of his muddled brain and seep down through his tired and tensed-up body. Lord, he loved to draw.”
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Leslie Burk Moves In
At this point, Leslie Burk moves into the old Perkins place. A UHaul had been parked outside for a while. -
"'Might late with the milking, aren't you, son?' It was the only thing his father said directly to him all morning."
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Leslie Burk beats Jesse in the first race of the year
Leslie Burk beats Jesse in the first race of the year. She also follows him around trying to talk to him. Jesse didn't take this so well and went as far as sitting next to his sister on the bus to avoid her and anyone else. -
Jesse's music teacher, Miss Edmunds, returns to class.
It's Friday, and Jesse's music teacher, Miss Edmunds, has returned to teach her class. She asks if his pictures are private, and Jesse agrees to show them to her.
Jesse also befriends Leslie Burk that day, and they swing on a rope across a gully. They pick a shack and choose to make it their own world, and they call it Terabithia. -
Janice Avery starts to pick on Jesse and Leslie since they ride together on the bus
At this point, Janice has started to pick on Leslie and Jesse a bit. At one point, she trips on the bus and blames it on Jesse, who has to walk 3 miles home. -
Janice steals May Bell's twinkies
Janice Avery, the girl who had been bullying Jesse and Leslie, stole May Bell's twinkies and she can't take it and begs Jesse to fight her. He can't so he devises a plan to cause her a massive amount of embarrassment. -
Leslie and Jesse put their plan into action
Leslie and Jesse go into the classroom and put the note inside of Janice's desk that is "from" Williard Hughes about walking home that day. She reads it the next day and gets really excited. She tells all of her friends. She asks Willard that day, and he denies having written the letter. Janice gets really sad and embarrassed in front of her friends and -
Jess adopts a dog and names it Prince Terrien
November 11th, 1974, Jess adopts a pug for Christmas and gives it to Leslie who names it Prince Terrien. She takes it to Terabithia and gives it a ribbon. -
Jesse helps Leslie and her parents paint a room
Leslie and Jesse wanted the room to be blue, but they painted it a golden color anyways. They really liked the new room and decided that they were happy they got convinced to paint it golden instead of blue. -
Church on Easter
In the story, it's said that Jesse's family only goes to church on Easter Sunday since they have issues with the preacher, so it's an important time for them. And at the time, he decided to ask Leslie if she wanted to come. She went with him and actually enjoyed it. -
A massive storm hits their area
By now, Leslie and Jesse had gone to Terabithia in a massive storm. The creek water is rising rapidly and the water is very very muddy. -
Jesse goes to Washington with Ms. Edmunds
On this day, during the heavy rain, Jesse and Ms. Edmunds go to Washington to see the many museums and monuments located in Washington. Something terrible happens while he is gone that day. -
″‘She loved you, you know.’ He could tell from Bill’s voice that he was crying. ‘She told me once that if it weren’t for you…’ His voice broke completely. ‘Thank you,’ he said a moment later. ‘Thank you for being such a wonderful friend to her.‘”
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“Suddenly his mother let out a great shuddering sob. ‘O my God. O my God.’ She said it over and over, her head down on her arms. His father moved to put his arm around her awkwardly, but he didn’t take his eyes off Jess.”
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Leslie passes
While Jesse was gone, Leslie tried to cross into Terabithia and failed, and sadly passed. -
Jesse is devastated
Needless to say, Jesse is devastated by the loss of Leslie. He doesn't believe it at first and goes to the creek and dumps a lot of his art into it. His father calms him, but, he has already done it. He goes to her funeral and doesn't really know what to do or say. He is just sort of... there. He does end up understanding it sort of in the end and does take action. -
Jesse rebounds and gets better
After a day, or maybe two, Jesse basically rebounds. He understands the loss and decides to take some action. He goes to where the rope swing was, and builds a bridge. He then gets May Belle and makes her Queen of Terabithia to continue Leslie's legacy. -
″‘Course you’re scared. Anybody’d be scared. You just gotta trust me, OK? I’m not gonna let you fall, May Belle. I promise you.‘”