The Bridge

The Bridge (Bracken Trilogy, Book 1) by Jeri Massi

This was one of those Christian children’s fiction books all the younger kids in my family read when we were homeschooled, and it was one of my favorites. I was sure I read it several times. Actually, when I read it again recently (well, in Oct. ’05, so relatively recently) I looked at my mom’s “This book has been read by:” thing in the back of the book, and saw that I had indeed read it a couple times – the second time a week after the first!

Reading it again as an adult diminished it a bit – the writing itself isn’t excellent. I still enjoyed it, though. The basic idea of the book is that the main character, a princess, must flee as her kingdom is invaded. She’s pretty childish at the beginning and doesn’t understand why her loyal subjects are having her carried off, but she matures through her trials. Oh, and there’s a “wise woman” archetypal character to help with the maturing bit.

With such a standard plot and imperfect writing, I’m not sure why I still like it so much. Well, the writing isn’t that bad; it only draws slightly too much attention to itself, is a little too simple. I recommend this one.