Leslie Burke

Leslie was mainly Jess' polar opposite. She was talkative, openly social, cheerful and more open-minded about the world around her and while Jess is poor, she was rich. At the beginning of the movie and book, she was the new girl who dresses different, talks different, and does not play by the same social rules as the other kids do. She beat Jess in a racing event he trained for all summer, but she still tried to compliment him and offered him friendship, but was brushed off. After telling the class she has no television and being laughed at, she tried to sit in the back and he grabs her not a second sooner and starts their initial friendship. Running into the woods, they swing across the creek on a rope and start a world of their own. He seems to have some trouble accepting the fact she has different beliefs than him such as his God-fearing Christianity and her agnostic views. After he leaves her behind at home she attempts to go to Terabithia, but the rope breaks and she falls, hits her head on a rock, loses consciousness, and drowns. She leaves him angry, heartbroken and feeling it was his fault she died, thinking if he had invited her or turned Miss Edmunds down, she would not have died.