Jesse Aarons coached all summer to become the fastest runner in school, therefore he is very angry when rookie Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Not surprisingly and other gaps, for example that she is rich, he is poor, and she is a town girl, he is a country boy, the two become fast friends. Together, they create Terabithia, a territory of monsters, trolls, ogres, and historians and rule as queen and king.