Editing Bridge to Terabithia (novel) (section)

==Background of book==
[[File:LisaHill.jpg|thumb|upright|Lisa Christina Hill (1966–1974), the girl who inspired the novel.]]
Katherine Paterson lived for a time in [[Takoma Park, Maryland]], a suburb of [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=tak>{{cite news |last=Kohn |first=Diana |url=http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2005/06/features_takomaarchives0605.html |title=Lisa Hill and the Bridge to Terabithia |newspaper=Takoma-Silver Spring Voice |date=2004 |access-date=2007-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412030815/http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2005/06/features_takomaarchives0605.html |archive-date=April 12, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The novel was inspired by an incident during that time: on August 14, 1974, her son [[David L. Paterson|David]]'s best friend, Lisa Christina Hill, died after being struck by lightning in [[Bethany Beach, Delaware]].<ref>"Bolt Kills Girl on Beach", ''Wilmington (DE) Evening Journal'', August 15, 1974, p.1</ref> She was eight years old.<ref name=tak/><ref>[http://www.terabithia.com/questions.html "Questions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519061139/http://www.terabithia.com/questions.html |date=2015-05-19 }}. Katherine Paterson (terabithia.com). Retrieved 2007-02-08.</ref><ref name="local">{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |title=Local Connection |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5801847.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103054207/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5801847.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |date=February 15, 2007 |access-date=2010-03-01 |quote=After you have read or seen ''Bridge to Terabithia'', visit Takoma Park Elementary, the school David Paterson and Lisa Hill—the inspirations for Jess and Leslie—attended in the 1970s.}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

The name of the imaginary kingdom is similar to that of the [[Narnia (world)|Narnian]] island [[Narnia (world)#Eastern Ocean|Terebinthia]], created by [[C. S. Lewis]] in 1951 or earlier for ''[[Prince Caspian]]'' and ''[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]''. Paterson observed in 2005:

<blockquote>I thought I had made it up. Then, rereading ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' by C. S. Lewis, I realized that I had probably gotten it from the island of Terebinthia in that book. However, Lewis probably got that name from the [[terebinth]] tree in the Bible, so both of us pinched from somewhere else, probably unconsciously.<ref name="questions">"Questions for Katherine Paterson". ''Bridge to Terabithia'', 2005 Harper Trophy edition.</ref></blockquote>

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.

The novel also indirectly alludes to the fantasy series ''[[The Chronicles of Prydain]]''.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}