Customer Reviews

Leslie's Journal

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Playwright Allan Stratton's first novel for teens, LESLIE'S JOURNAL, is a cautionary tale about teenage love gone drastically wrong. It all starts with Leslie, an angry, confused, rebellious girl in need of validation. Her days in school are numbered, she has problems at home, and her behavior just may alienate the only friend she has. But just when things couldn't possibly get any worse, she meets Jason --- the totally handsome, totally cool new kid on campus. And when he suddenly kisses her in front of her friends, she's the envy of all her female classmates.

Jason asks Leslie out, and she's on cloud nine, agog with love. On their first date, he takes her to his parents' house instead of the movies and plies her with booze, something she hasn't had much experience with. But she has even less experience with what happens next. Jason follows up his act with apologies, smiles, and flowers; and Leslie is soon on a roller coaster ride through relationship hell with an abusive control freak at the helm.

When Jason isn't forcing himself upon Leslie, he is hitting and threatening her. And when she decides that she's finally had enough, he threatens to blackmail her and even begins stalking her. On top of that, things go from bad to worse when a substitute teacher actually reads the journal Leslie is keeping for her English class. The journals were supposed to be private, but the teacher didn't know. Out of concern, she brings the journal and Leslie's story to the attention of the principal, who doesn't believe one word of it --- she believes the wealthy, upright Jason, not the rebellious, attention-getting Leslie. When Jason gets wind of the latest turn of events, he threatens to kill Leslie.

With nowhere to turn, Leslie's world collapses and she turns to Katie, the only friend she has, sharing everything with her. Together they vow to bring Jason down --- if he doesn't get to Leslie first. She holes up in her apartment and hopes for a miracle, but when Jason's threats increase, she takes things into her own hands. Fast paced and suspenseful, bordering on nightmarish, LESLIE'S JOURNAL will have you on the edge of your seat, white-knuckled all the way.


--- Reviewed by Tammy L. Currier

Remember the girl in the back of the class who never paid attention nor turned her homework in? Her name is Leslie, and you have a chance to read her journal. She is more than what you think. Leslie is a young adult in the 10th grade. Her parents are divorced, and to make it worse her father has a girlfriend..and guess who he pays more attention to? The girlfriend. Leslie is the usual bad girl, smokes pot, loves getting in trouble..the usual. Her life seems to be pretty bad, she hates her journal, she hates Ms. Graham, she hates her mother, she hates her father, and she hates herself. With no one to talk to but her best friend, she confindes in her journal. The usual show off Leslie was and approached a very attractive, popular young man. He is EVERYTHING any girl could dream up. But..could he really be that great? Could such a great thing happen to Leslie? You don't know? Maybe you should her journal.

This book written for teens deals with divorce, detachment, sex and abuse. All of which are, of course, often entertwined. The story is about Leslie. Her parents have recently separated and the father is rebuilding his life with another woman. He has a nominal role in the book, but a huge role in the reason Leslie accepts the abuse that she gets.

Leslie meets an older student at her school and they start to sort of date. Throughout the whole ordeal Leslie writes her experiences and feelings down in her Journal. It is obvious that she is not in love with this boy, but he somehow manages to get to her vulnerability and ends up controlling her. Of course, he also ends up abusing her both sexually and emotionally (not to mention physically).

This book is extremely well written. You would swear it was written from the perspective of a 14 year old girl. The author does not feel the need to employ crass or vulgar words to describe the scene and yet, you can simply imagine the horror of it all.

The way the author has chosen to end this book is a strong, positive message to all girls.

Extremely excellent reading. If I had a daughter, this book would be at the top of her reading list.

Before I read this book I wasn't much of a reader. When I discovered Amazon.com I looked at the books for teens and this book seemed very interesting. I ordered the book and when I got is read it in one sitting.
This book was so amazing it had everything I needed it had suspence, drama, action, and conflict. I would reccomend this book to any Young Adult reader.
Leslie's Jornal is about an angst ridden teen who's parents were going through divorce. She kind of a bad A$$ and wanted to impress these girls that she hated. so she started going with Jason(the new kid)and the first night she had to much to drink and passed out the next thing she finds out is that he had sex with her passed out body. He starts to get abusive and controlling giving her pills and making her have sex. When she brakes up with him he starts to stalk her and tells her he has pictures of her passed out naked at his house. She went into his house and found her picture along with other girls pictures....I don't want to give away anymore....hope i didn't give away too much . Read it!
Also recommended: Smack, The Torn Skirt, Breathing Underwater, Forged by Fire, Darkness Berfore Dawn, Born Blue, Night, If I Should Die Before I Wake, Speak, I Have Lived A Thousand Years, The Cage, Everytime A Rainbow Dies, Black-eyed Suzie, Monster, Go Ask Alice, The Giver, and Gathering Blue!! Read them All!

This book was great . a must read for teens !! she gets raped and her boyfriend is abusive! read this book!!! Wroth every penny!!

I'll admit I didn't have the highest hopes for this story about Leslie, a daughter of divorced parents, who starts to write her most personal thoughts in a journal assigned to her by her English teacher. It seems like Leslie's only outlet, and since her teacher promised never to read it, what's the harm in putting down personal stuff, like the fact she likes Jason? Jason isn't exactly your average boyfriend however. His first "date" with Leslie involves too much alcohol and it isn't until later that Leslie realizes she's been raped. Leslie continues to see Jason after this, seeing something in the much older and richer guy. His behavior just starts to escalate, and then a new English teacher turns over Leslie's journal to the principal. Leslie's scared for her life and so are the readers in this disturbing story of teenage relationship violence.

Sometimes it is hard to stand up for yourself or your beleifs. It takes much courage to face something very tragic. Learning to listen to your friends is an important factor in life. Sometimes it takes a big event to realized what friendship really is. Leslie's journal is a suspenseful, fast-paced story about love, friendship, and what it means to stand up for yourself.

Leslie is a normal teenager who hates school and wants to be popular. Everyday in school she writes in her journal and tells about her life. Her parents are divorced and she has a hard time getting along with them. She feels like popularity is more important than friends and family. Leslie meets a new popular guy named Jason at school one day. She thinks he is perfect even though her friends tell her different. The first night alone with Jason, Leslie and him go too far. Because of drinking too much that night, Leslie wakes up not knowing what happened to her. She asked Jason and he tells her that she was the one that wanted to go all the way. She feels weird about it but believes he is telling the truth. As time goes on, Leslie writes in her journal about how Jason starts abusing her. She lies to her friends and family about the bruises. She starts realizing she needs to get out but Jason wont let her go.

As Leslie's life spins out of control, she learns how to stand up for herself. Her only hope is her best friend and family. Through it all, Leslie realizes what is really important in life.

This book is great for teenagers everywhere. It is a great example about how to make the right decisions. You will not be able to put it down after you start reading it.

"Leslie's Journal" is the typical story of a teenage girl whose boyfriend abuses her. Though the story has been told so many times before, this one is especially good. Leslie has to write a journal for her English class, and after a short time, she starts to tell secrets she'd never tell anyone. Secrets about her best friend, her mom, her teachers, and her boyfriend. Until her English teacher reads it, and reports it to the principal, because Leslie has written about her abusive boyfriend. Her boyfriend gets called down to the office and questioned, and later comes after Leslie. It's a very good book, but it is haunting. I strongly reccommend it.

This is the best book i have ever read! it is very detailed. i am 13 and it made me creeped out, so i would not recommend it to anyone younger than 13. if you like books that are suspensful and you can hardly put down, this is the book for you!!

It is about a girl named Leslie who's life is pretty bad, her parents just got divorced, she smokes pot, gets drunk, she hates her mom, she hates her dad ( who has a new girlfriend ) i bet you know who he likes more, the girlfriend! the only person she really has is her best friend. UNTIL......
Jason the new boy comes along, there is everything in him any girl would like. Him and Leslie start going out, and he pressures her into sex, abuses her... things dont seem like they can get worse, but they do....

This book is pretty disturbing, but still GREAT!! I highly recommend it for teens :-)

This is a diary about a teenage girl named Leslie. Leslie has a difficult life and she deals with it by giving lip, doing drugs and having sex. See, Leslie is not a popular girl and when she gets the attention of Jason, the cool new transfer student, she gobbles it up. Pretty soon Leslie finds out that Jason's not all he's cracked up to be. Leslie wants out but Jason won't let go. He threatens to give Leslie's mom pictures of her on the night that he raped her if she doesn't continue having sex with him. Leslie knows what to do; she sneaks into his house, gets the pictures, and burns them. Jason threatens to kill her so Leslie flees town and goes to her dads. Leslie files a case against Jason and gets into contact with another girl he had done this too. It's a must read for all teenagers so that they can realize what happens when you make stupid desicions. A 5 star +