Bridge to Terabithia
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50 free Bridge to Terabithia trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Bridge to Terabithia is the rare school reading-list novel that pupils remember for life: a story about a lonely farm boy, the new girl next door and the imaginary kingdom they rule together in the woods. It is funny and ordinary for most of its length, which is exactly why its ending lands so hard. This quiz follows the book from the opening chapter to the last page. You will meet Jess's crowded family, the teachers and bullies of Lark Creek Elementary, the rules of Terabithia and the small details that reading quizzes love to ask about, with extra attention to the middle chapters and the closing ones. A handful of questions cover the author, the real events behind the story, the prizes and the screen versions. It suits pupils revising for a class test or an Accelerated Reader quiz, teachers who want ready-made questions, and adults who read the book years ago and want to see how much stayed with them. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How does Leslie Burke die in Bridge to Terabithia while Jess is visiting a museum?
She drowns in the creek
She drowns in the creek after a fall knocks her unconscious, on a morning when days of rain have turned the dry gully into a torrent. Jess blames himself for not inviting her along.
Q 02Whom does Jess make the new queen of Terabithia after building a bridge over the creek?
May Belle
May Belle is the only sister Jess feels close to, and the first to learn the kingdom exists: she had secretly followed him and Leslie to the creek.
Q 03Which household item do Leslie Burke's classmates mock her family for lacking in Bridge to Terabithia?
A television
A television is missing from the Burke home, a fact that comes out when Leslie asks Mrs. Myers how to do homework that means watching a programme about Jacques Cousteau.
Q 04Lisa Hill, the girl whose death inspired Bridge to Terabithia, was killed by what at Bethany Beach, Delaware?
A lightning strike
A lightning strike killed eight-year-old Lisa, the best friend of the author's son David, in August 1974. The novel's dedication page carries David's name.
Q 05In Bridge to Terabithia, which treat does Janice Avery steal after Jess's sister brags about it on the bus?
Twinkies
Twinkies were a treat her father had brought from town, and she had bragged about them on the bus. Unable to fight Janice, Jess is called "yeller" by his sister.
Q 06What does Jess Aarons, almost penniless, give Leslie Burke for Christmas in Bridge to Terabithia?
A puppy
A puppy cost him nothing: he jumped off the school bus early after spotting a sign offering them free. Leslie tells him it beats the present she gives him.
Q 07Which fantasy series does Leslie Burke lend Jess so he can behave like a king of Terabithia?
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia also left a mark on the kingdom's name: the author later realised Terabithia echoes Terebinthia, an island in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Q 08At which recess contest does newcomer Leslie Burke beat every boy in Bridge to Terabithia?
Running races
Running races were meant to be Jess's moment: he had trained all summer to be the fastest kid in fifth grade. Leslie wins his heat, then the final.
Q 09How do Jess and Leslie cross the dry creek bed to enter their secret kingdom of Terabithia?
Swinging on a rope
Swinging on a rope is the rule Leslie sets for entering the secret country. Jess, who finds the courtly talk hard, proves better at building their fort.
Q 10How do Jess and Leslie get revenge on Janice Avery for bullying Jess's sister in Bridge to Terabithia?
A forged love letter
A forged love letter, supposedly from her crush Willard Hughes, promises Janice a date. Her friend spreads the news on the bus, and she is humiliated when he never shows.
Q 11Which American author wrote Bridge to Terabithia after her young son lost his best friend?
Katherine Paterson
Katherine Paterson went on to serve as the second US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a Library of Congress post, in 2010 and 2011.
Q 12Which American children's book prize did Bridge to Terabithia win the year after it was published?
The Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal went to the novel in 1978, and its author won it a second time three years later for Jacob Have I Loved.
Q 13Which future Hunger Games star played Jess Aarons in the 2007 film of Bridge to Terabithia?
Josh Hutcherson
Q 21Which hobby does Leslie Burke describe in the essay Mrs. Myers reads aloud in Bridge to Terabithia?
Scuba diving
Scuba diving wins Leslie the teacher's praise, which even she knows only makes enemies. The essay itself frightens Jess as he listens.
Q 22What do Lark Creek locals call the run-down farmhouse the Burkes move into in Bridge to Terabithia?
The old Perkins place
The old Perkins place never keeps its tenants long, so Jess shrugs off the news. The narrator notes that he will later marvel at how the biggest thing in his life began as nothing.
Q 23Why did Leslie Burke's wealthy parents leave the suburbs for a Lark Creek farm in Bridge to Terabithia?
Josh Hutcherson was not the filmmakers' first choice for Jess: they settled on him after seeing his chemistry with the girl already cast as Leslie.
Q 14Which actress landed Leslie Burke in the 2007 film of Bridge to Terabithia after writing to its director?
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb was the first actor cast, after telling director Gábor Csupó how much she loved the book. She also recorded a song, Keep Your Mind Wide Open, whose video is on the DVD.
Q 15Which subject does Miss Edmunds, the young teacher Jess has a crush on, teach in Bridge to Terabithia?
Music
Music class on Fridays is the one thing that gets Jess through the school week. Miss Edmunds tells him he is unusually talented and calls him a diamond in the rough.
Q 16To which city does Miss Edmunds take Jess in Bridge to Terabithia on the day Leslie dies?
Washington
Washington gives Jess his first visit to an art gallery, then the Smithsonian, and he calls it a perfect day. Only on the road does he realise he could have asked Leslie along.
Q 17What name does Leslie Burke give the guardian and court jester of Terabithia?
Prince Terrien
Prince Terrien, P.T. for short, stays with Jess while the grieving Burkes are away. Leslie's father had meant to give him to Jess, but cannot part with him.
Q 18What is the name of the Aarons family cow that Jess must milk each day in Bridge to Terabithia?
Miss Bessie
Miss Bessie gets Jess out of the house: at milking time he meets Leslie, squirts fresh milk into her mouth and hears her ask to come to church with his family.
Q 19Lark Creek, the rural home of Jess Aarons in Bridge to Terabithia, lies in which US state?
Virginia
Virginia is also where the author spent a year teaching at a rural elementary school, long before she wrote the novel.
Q 20What do Leslie Burke's parents, Bill and Judy, both do for a living in Bridge to Terabithia?
Writers
Writers both, the Burkes act humble, but Jess can tell they have plenty of money. He feels out of place in their home and thinks Leslie is out of place in his.
To reassess their values
To reassess their values, or in Leslie's borrowed phrase to go "reassessing their value structure", after deciding that money had become too important to them.
Q 24Which part of the woods, once feared by Jess, does Leslie Burke call Terabithia's most sacred place?
The pine forest
The pine forest becomes the grove where the two give thanks after their victories, and where Leslie later prays to the spirits to lift the endless rain.
Q 25Which animal does Jess draw tumbling off a cliff, as a joke, in Bridge to Terabithia?
A hippo
A hippo falling off a cliff is a joke he thinks his little sister would laugh at. He longs to show his father too, but does not dare.
Q 26Which nickname do pupils give Mrs. Myers, the elderly fifth-grade teacher in Bridge to Terabithia?
Monster Mouth
Monster Mouth Myers shows another side after Leslie's death: she takes Jess out to the hallway and tells him Leslie was the best student she ever had.
Q 27In Bridge to Terabithia, what do disapproving locals call Miss Edmunds, who wears trousers to school?
A hippie
A hippie is what Jess's mother calls her, and pupils sneer the same word, yet they love her Friday classes while pretending not to.
Q 28Which Shakespeare tragedy does Leslie Burke retell in Terabithia while plotting against Janice Avery?
Hamlet
Hamlet is one of the stories Leslie retells in the kingdom, as she earlier did with Moby-Dick. While she talks, Jess imagines the picture he could make of it.
Q 29What does Leslie Burke give Jess when they swap Christmas presents in Terabithia on Christmas Eve?
Paints and paper
Paints and paper are the proper art supplies Jess had longed to buy for himself. Leslie insists that his present to her is the better one.
Q 30Which faulty Christmas present from his father disappoints Jess in Bridge to Terabithia?
A racing car set
A racing car set cost more than his father could afford, yet it keeps going wrong, and Jess aches to see his father feel bad about the gift.