Katherine Paterson
2 books analyzed
Biography
Katherine Paterson (born 1932 in China, raised in Virginia) was a missionary's daughter who grew up in a working-class Southern household and went on to become one of America's most celebrated children's authors, winning two Newbery Medals. Bridge to Terabithia was written in direct response to a real death: her son David's best friend, Lisa Hill, was struck by lightning and killed at age eight in 1974. David was also eight. Paterson watched her son navigate sudden, inexplicable loss and wrote the novel to help him — and any child — face it.
Katherine Paterson at a glance
Works
Bridge to Terabithia
1977 · 163 pages · ★☆☆☆☆ Accessible
A book about magic and childhood that becomes something else entirely — and never lets you go.
Lyddie
1991 · 182 pages · ★★☆☆☆ Moderate
A thirteen-year-old Vermont farm girl fights her way into the Lowell mills, discovers the cost of independence, and chooses education over every easier path offered to her.
Diction Across Works
plain-realist
plain-vernacular