Love and Other Words

Elliot and Macy bond over their love of books and reference several works of literature throughout the novel. What they read and the books they share mirror the evolution of their relationship. The first book Elliot gives Macy is Bridge to Terabithia, a story that reflects their friendship. Written by Katherine Paterson and published in 1977, the book revolves around a fifth-grade boy, Jess, who feels out of place in a house with four sisters. His neighbor is a girl named Leslie, and the two form a friendship and make up an imaginary world called Terabithia, where Leslie is queen. Leslie falls from a rope swing and drowns, filling Jess with grief.

May Belle is Jess’s younger sister, who follows him around everywhere he goes. Jess and Leslie frequently try to keep her out of Terabithia because it is their private place where they can play alone. After Leslie dies, Jess brings May Belle into Terabithia and makes her its new queen. The parallels between Jess/Elliot and Leslie/Macy are obvious. Elliot and Macy are neighbors. Elliot feels out of place in his large family, since he is the only one who likes to read, and the two become friends around their shared proclivity to disappear into fantasy worlds. However, when Elliot gives Macy the book, he says, “I sort of feel like I could be your May Belle” (30), not “I could be your Jess.” He may be suggesting that he wants to follow her everywhere, and he wants to be let into the world of her grief, the secret place she doesn’t share with anyone else.

Bridge to Terabithia is a classic novel that has a reputation for bringing readers to tears. In Love and Other Words, Macy admits to Elliot that the book made her cry because it reminded her of her mom’s death. When Elliot gives it to her, it is his way of saying he wants to understand her grief, and by accepting the book, reading it, and telling Elliot that it made her cry, Macy allows him into that part of her life.