Leslie's Journal

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Winnipeg,
Manitoba.

A Grade 10 English assignment finds Leslie “journalizing” her
troubled home life, her frustrating relationships, and her general
disillusionment. When her long-time friend Katie deserts her, Leslie
welcomes the attentions of a new student, Jason. However, her dream
“date” quickly turns into a nightmare when Jason gets her drunk and
rapes her. Then he continues pressuring her for sex every time they are
together and escalates the accompanying violence.

Caught between her need to be loved and her fear of rejection and
violence, Leslie coasts along miserably until her supposedly private
journal comes to the attention of a school administrator who, to avoid
controversy, willingly accepts Leslie’s “make-believe”
explanation. Leslie tries to end her relationship with Jason, who
responds to her “betrayal” with harassing phone calls, stalking,
disturbing notes, blackmail (Polaroids shots of their sexual
encounters), threats of suicide, and attempts at killing her.

Fleeing her tormentor, Leslie encounters a detective. She answers his
questions honestly, revealing the existence of her journal, with its
documented evidence. Initially reluctant to press charges against Jason,
Leslie agrees to do so after identifying other girls in the Polaroid
shots and learning that one of them committed suicide. At trial, Jason
is found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention.

In choosing a first-person journal format, Allan Stratton is able to
both advance the plot and reveal Leslie’s emotional development. The
story is well-paced and the dialogue snappy. In tackling the sensitive
issues of sexual abuse and violence, Stratton targets mature young-adult
readers. Leslie is an appealing and believable character torn between
her innate decency and her teenage angst; the secondary characters are
merely types and exhibit little development, acting mainly as foils for
Leslie’s conflict. Recommended.