A gripping story about the dark side of a first love. Awards for the previous edition: American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults American Library Association Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers American Library Association Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults The Best, Notable and Recommended List, Teacher Librarian Magazine Leslie can't seem to avoid trouble, whether it's at school or at home. Just as life seems at its lowest, Jason McCready, the exceedingly cool new guy at school, enters her life. Now Leslie is the envy of all the girls. But Jason's appearance is deceiving—he is determined to control every aspect of Leslie's life, and he begins terrorizing her in unimaginable ways. When a substitute teacher reads the private English-class journal in which Leslie reveals Jason's abuse, Leslie is suddenly forced into hard choices and terrifying action to take back her life. Updated to reflect the contemporary world of the Internet, cell phones and text messaging, Leslie's Journal is a suspenseful, fast-paced story about love, friendship and what it means to stand up for yourself.
Author
ALLAN STRATTON is the internationally acclaimed author of CHANDA'S SECRETS, winner of the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Honor Book, the Children's Africana Book Award, and ALA Booklist's Editor's Choice among others. His first YA novel was the ALA Best Book LESLIE'S JOURNAL. His latest, CHANDA'S WARS, a Junior Library Guild selection, won the Canadian Library Association's Young Adult Canadian Book Award, 2009, and is on the CCBC Best Books List. The German/South African film version of CHANDA'S SECRETS has been named an Official Selection of the 2010 Cannes International Film festival. the film title is LIFE ABOVE ALL. You can read about Allan's experiences on set on the December posts of his blog. Allan's new novel, BORDERLINE, a coming-of-age mystery/thriller, came out in March 2010 from HarperCollins with starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and raves in Booklist, Kirkus Reviews and Quill and quire.. He loves travel, cats and dogs, ice cream, working out, doing readings and workshops—and, oh yes, meeting readers! Allan is published in the USA, France, Germany, Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and Slovenia. You can read more about his books, and visit him online at www.allanstratton.com
