Scan barcode
A review by katykelly
My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal
5.0
(Warning - you may need tissues) Emotional period piece about family with a strong child's point of view in the writing
Leon has cared for his mum and his baby brother since Jake was born and his mother began to retreat from the real world. He adores Jakes, he loves his mum, but he can't get her to leave her bed, to buy food.
Leon is 9, born to a white mother and a black father, living in 1980s England. Jake's father is white. When the boys are inevitably taken into care, Leon begins to find stability with Maureen, to become a boy again, but one day a couple come by to play with Jake...
I openly wept at work reading this in my lunch break, the writing of some highly emotional scenes was absolutely heart-breaking. It is written from Leon's very naive yet mature point of view, though not first person, but it is clearly his own thoughts and feelings we are sharing. And it really did feel that de Waal has captured the mind of a nine-year-old boy. Leon is very, very real.
His story is such a sad one, as he struggles to understand why his mum isn't coming for him, why he can't see his brother, what is happening around him. Leon discovers a local allotment with an Afro-Caribbean man and an Irishman, often at odds with each other, he begins to help them grow vegetables, and he is there first-hand when race riots rear their ugly head.
I was born in 1980, and was oblivious to the events depicted here in the early eighties. It is all too real here though - racist and violent police, revolution in the air, hostility and fear. And Leon with his own resentments and hidden worries in the middle of it.
He's a well-crafted little boy, one you'd not look at twice riding his bike down the hill, but one whose story has a lot to tell us about Britain three decades ago, and how much has changed since.
The carers portrayed here are wonderful, human, imperfect, but loving and large (of heart) women. Leon's allotment friends are more than just the stereotypes they are seen as by the police and those around them - with their own stories and lives, that Leon discovers over time.
It's a book with a lot of issues raised, it wouldn't be too much for a teenaged reader, and adults will get a lot from it, the historical detail brought back pictures from my childhood (ghetto blasters, BMX bikes), the story a shockingly sad but ultimately uplifting one.
Review of a Goodreads giveaway copy.
Leon has cared for his mum and his baby brother since Jake was born and his mother began to retreat from the real world. He adores Jakes, he loves his mum, but he can't get her to leave her bed, to buy food.
Leon is 9, born to a white mother and a black father, living in 1980s England. Jake's father is white. When the boys are inevitably taken into care, Leon begins to find stability with Maureen, to become a boy again, but one day a couple come by to play with Jake...
I openly wept at work reading this in my lunch break, the writing of some highly emotional scenes was absolutely heart-breaking. It is written from Leon's very naive yet mature point of view, though not first person, but it is clearly his own thoughts and feelings we are sharing. And it really did feel that de Waal has captured the mind of a nine-year-old boy. Leon is very, very real.
His story is such a sad one, as he struggles to understand why his mum isn't coming for him, why he can't see his brother, what is happening around him. Leon discovers a local allotment with an Afro-Caribbean man and an Irishman, often at odds with each other, he begins to help them grow vegetables, and he is there first-hand when race riots rear their ugly head.
I was born in 1980, and was oblivious to the events depicted here in the early eighties. It is all too real here though - racist and violent police, revolution in the air, hostility and fear. And Leon with his own resentments and hidden worries in the middle of it.
He's a well-crafted little boy, one you'd not look at twice riding his bike down the hill, but one whose story has a lot to tell us about Britain three decades ago, and how much has changed since.
The carers portrayed here are wonderful, human, imperfect, but loving and large (of heart) women. Leon's allotment friends are more than just the stereotypes they are seen as by the police and those around them - with their own stories and lives, that Leon discovers over time.
It's a book with a lot of issues raised, it wouldn't be too much for a teenaged reader, and adults will get a lot from it, the historical detail brought back pictures from my childhood (ghetto blasters, BMX bikes), the story a shockingly sad but ultimately uplifting one.
Review of a Goodreads giveaway copy.