Leslie Burke

Leslie Burke is the female protagonist of the book Bridge To Terabithia and it's film adaption. She is the best friend of Jess Araons, the male protagonist, and tohether they created and rule their "kingdom" the titular Terabithia

Bridge To Terabithia
Leslie is a happy and optimisic girl who's parents are writers, and that is likely the reason why she is so imaginative and creative. She moves to Jess Araon's neighborhood with her parents and they meet on her first day of school. She partakes in a race with Jess and his class, and comes out as the fastest, with Jess in second place. Leslie also befriends Jess's sister May Belle and offers her some of her old barbie dolls.

Later, while hanging out with Jess they find a deserted spot in the forest near thier home, across a rive, which can only be crossed by a swinging rope. Leslie and Jess decide to make the spot their own special place, and name it Terabitha, where they imagine they are king and queen of the enchanted kingdom of Terabitha. They use Terabithia as a means to take a break from reality and spend there time there playing out battles with thier villain the Dark Master, and his minions. They also build a treehouse to use as their castle.

They also maintain thier friendship in reality as well. When Jess and his family where going to church, Leslie joins them and claims God wouldn't be going around sending people to hell, as he is busy making the world a beautiful place. When a school bully named Janice is mooching off of people's lunches to let them use the school yard bathroom, Leslie helps get back at Janice when she, Jess and May Belle forge a false love letter to Janice from a boy she likes and humilates her. Later Leslie talks to Janice, and learns about her homelife and abusive father, and decides to befriend Janice. When Christmas approaches, Jess buys Leslie a pet dog and visits her home, where her parents are doing a paint job, and Jess joins them in painting thier house.

One day, Jess gets a call from his teacher Miss Edmunds to join him on a trip to a museum, and since Jess has a crush on Miss Edmunds, he wanted to spend alone time with her and doesn't invite Leslie. After getting back from the trip, Jess is met by his worried family - they explain that while Jess was gone, Leslie was found dead. She tried to swing the rope across the river to Terabitha, but the rope broke and she hit her head and drowned.

The rest of the story is about how Jess dealed with Leslie's death. Jess at first in denial over her death and angry at feeling abandond by her. At her funeral, Leslie's father tells Jess that Leslie loved him and thanks Jess for being a good friend to her. Later Jess attacks a bully for making fun of Leslie's death and lashes out at his sister for asking if she saw the body. Later on Jess returns to the forest when he is chased by the Dark Master, only to break down crying over Leslie. Jess's father finds him and comforts him, and Jess says he's scared that Leslie is in hell because she wasn't baptized, but his father tells him that God would never send a girl like Leslie to hell, but Jess says he feels he's going to hell because he blames himself for what happened, but his father tells him not to think that for a minute. Jess is told that Leslie gave him somthing special, and he has to hold on to that to keep Leslie alive.

At the end of the story, Jess works on making a bridge to Terabitha, and returns there, and takes May Belle with him. May Belle see's Terabitha and asks if Jess is their king, and he replies "Only if your their princess".