Dear Jo: The Story of Losing Leah...
and Searching for Hope
by Christina Kilbourne
and Searching for Hope
by Christina Kilbourne
DEAR JO by Christina Kilbourne
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 5/25/07
Publisher: Lobster Press
Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen
Rating: 5 Stars
Two friends are swept into a world that they never knew could hurt them in many ways and make them regret their
actions.
Maxine has always been the good girl with the overprotective parents and the annoying siblings. She doesn’t know why
her parents are so restrictive on things such as the Internet. Then there is Leah, the only child who is beautiful and who
usually gets whatever she wants. So when she gets the Internet she decides to share it with Maxine.
The Internet seems pretty safe to them, like the parts where they are able to talk in forums and log onto the hangouts
where everyone at school goes to. But when they meet a guy who sweeps them off their feet, they decide that in order
for them to keep talking to him they must lie about their age and anything else that would jeopardize the relationship.
Each girl begins to talk to different guys, writing to them every day; Maxine by relaying the messages to Leah through
the phone and at school, and Leah, who does it secretly. The relationships begin to deepen as the guys begin to charm
the girls. For Maxine, her mistakes are caught in time -- but for Leah, it was too late.
DEAR JO begins six months after Leah goes missing and Maxine, who is not only vulnerable but didn’t even know that
her best friend’s “relationship” with her guy was getting so serious, is trying not to lose hope that one day her friend will
return.
Written in diary/journal entries, DEAR JO is compelling and intriguing and focuses on an issue that most of us do not
think of as serious. Christina Kilbourne writes a novel that will leave anyone who discovers it speechless.
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 5/25/07
Publisher: Lobster Press
Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen
Rating: 5 Stars
Two friends are swept into a world that they never knew could hurt them in many ways and make them regret their
actions.
Maxine has always been the good girl with the overprotective parents and the annoying siblings. She doesn’t know why
her parents are so restrictive on things such as the Internet. Then there is Leah, the only child who is beautiful and who
usually gets whatever she wants. So when she gets the Internet she decides to share it with Maxine.
The Internet seems pretty safe to them, like the parts where they are able to talk in forums and log onto the hangouts
where everyone at school goes to. But when they meet a guy who sweeps them off their feet, they decide that in order
for them to keep talking to him they must lie about their age and anything else that would jeopardize the relationship.
Each girl begins to talk to different guys, writing to them every day; Maxine by relaying the messages to Leah through
the phone and at school, and Leah, who does it secretly. The relationships begin to deepen as the guys begin to charm
the girls. For Maxine, her mistakes are caught in time -- but for Leah, it was too late.
DEAR JO begins six months after Leah goes missing and Maxine, who is not only vulnerable but didn’t even know that
her best friend’s “relationship” with her guy was getting so serious, is trying not to lose hope that one day her friend will
return.
Written in diary/journal entries, DEAR JO is compelling and intriguing and focuses on an issue that most of us do not
think of as serious. Christina Kilbourne writes a novel that will leave anyone who discovers it speechless.