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Gemmabeta t1_ixtq9mq wrote

The novel was written because Katherine Patterson's 8-year-old son's best friend was struck by lightening and died. And the book served as therapy by proxy for both of them.

David Patterson later wrote the screenplay of the film, I can't even begin to imagine how you would feel about that when you are revisiting that.

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Getofffmycloud OP t1_ixtqm2r wrote

I can only imagine the peace that writing the book brought to her. I always think about expression in the form of art. And for it to produce such a hauntingly beautiful story is so bittersweet. It was a very hard thing to go through as a child. I’m sure I didn’t quite understand the impact it had on me in the moment but as the years go by whenever the story is mentioned I get some spooky chills as I recall the moment I realized she was gone and then I start to think about how much I relate to Jesse in the following days after it happened. It’s a lot of emotions going through me.

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