An ordinary summer at the beach becomes a life lesson in love and understanding when fifteen-year-old Amanda meets Jake, a seventeen-year-old deaf boy. Reprint. SLJ. AB.
With the simultaneous sales of a YA and adult romantic suspense novel, Leslie Davis Guccione left public relations and fundraising copywriting to concentrate on fiction. Her thirty-one novels for adult, middle grade and teen readers & articles on the craft of writing have garnered awards, starred reviews and genre fiction best seller status.
Her work for adults began with two Avon romantic suspense titles. She moved to Harlequin/Silhouette & topped B. Dalton, Waldenbooks and other bookstore bestseller lists. Two have been "Man of the Month" lead titles and Bittersweet Harvest evolved into the six-book Branigan Brothers series. She was Harlequin/Silhouette's "Author of the Month" during the release of Borrowed Baby.
Her books have been translated into eight languages. She has been a finalist and judge for the RWA RITA awards. As Kate Chester she created and wrote the six book HEAR NO EVIL series for Scholastic. Six books for teen readers feature deaf protagonists; TELL ME HOW THE WIND SOUNDS has been optioned for television. Her works for young readers have been book club and readers' choice selections as well as classroom required reading. Two titles have been featured in Hornbook Magazine's "Musings" column.
In 2000 she took a break from fiction to teach, write articles on the craft and establish her manuscript review service. She is currently a mentor and adjunct faculty member for Seton Hill University's MFA program: Writing Popular Fiction. Professional memberships have included The Authors Guild, Romance Writes of America (RWA) and The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
