|
|
| |
Book ReviewsLeslie's Journal |
|
|
Book: Leslie's Journal
Written by: Allan Stratton |
Publisher: Annick Press
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5
|
|
Written for a grade 5 with content for much older
Rating:
2 / 5
I personally was very let down by this book.
Ive read reviews about how realiztic this book is, and how wonderful of a read it is. Personally I found it to be a horrible read.
From the start I was questioning the books value. Leslie is a teenager put in the the over used, stereotypical situation of a divorce, shes a rebel, her friend is a religious zealot, and she doesnt get along with many people or teachers.
Throw in Jason, his hot, his rich, and hes bad. Wow, didnt see that one comming!
Needless to say the book progress and I started to just get annoyed at how rude Lesie was. I dont know anybody who is this rude to their parents or other people. Quite frankly if she just stopped being so arrogant from the start, the book could have ended in the first few pages, and I would have enjoyed the book much more.
But back to the story. Throughout the book, Lesie makes a string of bad, rude, and just stupid choices.
But, just like a disney movie, no matter how bad of a person she is, she does one socially redeeming thing (not willingly I might add) and, bing bang boom, shes a hero!
If only it worked that way in real life. This book is just showing kids that when they act out, and misbehave, things will be AOK in the end. Newsflash! it wont. If your a bad person, if you fight with your parents, get drunk, do drugs, steal from your parents and beg on the streets, somthing is gona happen to you, and it sure wont be what happened to Lesie. This book just encourages teenagers to head down the path of destruction, assuring them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There isnt.
Now to the fact that this book could be picked up by a grade 5 and he/she could read the entire book and technically not have a problem with it. Some of the content might be too much for sombody of that age, but the way the book is written, they would have an easy time with it.
Recently, this book has been used in English 11 in my school district.
I gave it two stars because some people seemed to like this book and the way it falsly convayed reality. It's a great twist on life, but for all people say its realisitc, its not.
Personally I would not reccomend it to anybody who has Empathy or anybody who normally reads books, as I found it far too sterotypical, boring, and there was no "morally uplifting" ending. Overall the book was a pain to read, although it was hard to put down when you started, as you were half hoping that it might start to get interesting, but instead it just gets more depresseing, unhappy, and in my honest opinion, bad.
Excellent
Rating:
5 / 5
This teen-adult (yes, its a great read for adults also) is a journal type book in which the main character describes her abuse (sexual, mental and physical).
The main character is a confused 14 year old girl who meets up with a controlling 17 year old boy.
This book describes their relationship and how, in the end, the confused 14 year old decides to help herself and others.
While this is fiction, it is an excellent read.
What an excellent read!!
Rating:
4 / 5
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.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|