Somehow it had gotten around the school, and all down the street, about my father—I don't know how, because I never said anything. Everyone seemed to know why Maman was always alone—and not just at the school gates, but at Nativity plays at Christmastime, at soccer matches. It was common knowledge in school and down our street, that my father had been killed in the war. Whenever the war was spoken of around me—and it was spoken of often when I was growing up—voices would drop to a respectful, almost reverential whisper, and people would look at me sideways, admiringly, sympathetically, enviously even. I didn't know much more about my father than they did. But I liked the admiration and the sympathy, and the envy, too.

A Medal for Leroy – HarperCollins Publishers UK

Family secrets exist in every family, but those of Michael's family are HUGE, and Michael is not sure what to do with them once he unearths them. Michael Morpurgo is an award-winning author for War Horse, I however read another title and was quite disappointed. I did not have high expectation for this book. Michael proved me wrong with this inspirational title. The unexpected twist at the end captured all my attention and eliminated any doubts. This touching story can be read and enjoyed by upper key stage two. This book could be used for independent read. As some reference to both World Wars was mentioned in this book, perhaps this could also be looked at during studies on the Great World War. A son and grandson of actors, Michael has acting in his blood and enjoys collaborating and performing live adaptations of his books at festivals, concerts and theatres. When he’s 13, things change. Auntie Snowdrop dies and Auntie Pish falls ill. Michael and Christine take in Jasper – to Michael’s delight. Then a parcel arrives containing Auntie Snowdrop’s photo of his father and, hidden behind the frame, a writing pad. In it, Auntie Snowdrop tells the real story of both his father and his grandfather, Leroy, a World War I hero. As Michael reads through his Auntie Snowdrop's words, he discovers a deep secret: he is not who he thinks he is.However, Michael yearns to learn more. He and his French mother regularly pay visits to Roy’s so-called Auntie Pish and Auntie Snowdrop, two sisters who are believed to have adopted Roy as a baby after his own mother was killed in a Zeppelin air raid during the First World War.

A Medal for Leroy – Collins

As ever, Morpurgo's warmth and humanity suffuse a story of courage, love and hope. - Amanda Craig, The Times Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR) Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.11 Ocr_module_version 0.0.14 Openlibrary_edition That's just about all I knew, all she would tell me, anyway. No matter how much I asked, and I did, and more often as I grew up, she would say little more about him. I know now how painful it must have been for her to talk of him, but at the time I remember feeling very upset, angry almost toward her. He was my father, after all, wasn't he? It felt to me as if she was keeping him all for herself. Occasionally after a soccer match, or when I'd run down to the corner shop on an errand for old Ma Merritt who lived next door to us, Maman might say something like: "Your papa would have been so proud of you. I so wish he'd known you." But never anything more, nothing about him, nothing that helped me to imagine what sort of a man he might have been.Morpurgo is a virtuoso at conjuring vibrant stories that draw on historical events. - The Observer Review Michael's books have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Bulgarian and Hungarian, Hebrew and Japanese. He travels all over the UK and abroad talking to people of all ages at literary festivals, telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs. I intentionally did not reveal the ending, as I believe to fully enjoy this book it is best read from the start. I highly recommend. Michael lives in London with French mother, Christine. His father, Roy, was a Spitfire pilot killed in a dogfight over the Channel before Michael was born. Every few months, he and Christine visit Aunties Pish and Snowdrop, who brought up the orphaned Roy after his mother was killed in a Zeppelin air-raid during World War I. Michael longs to know more about his father, but nobody will talk about him. All Michael has is his father’s medal and the company of Jasper, his father’s beloved dog – and it’s not nearly enough. As Michael Morpurgo explains in an article in The Telegraph, it was his friend and illustrator, Michael Foreman, who helped to sow the seeds for Medal For Leroy.

A Medal for Leroy | Book reviews | RGfE - Reading Groups A Medal for Leroy | Book reviews | RGfE - Reading Groups

Michael, the main character doesn't like visiting his Aunts Pish and Snowdrop. Auntie Pish is a bit too severe and Auntie Snowdrop follows Pish in every way. After Aunt Snowdrop dies, Michael gets a parcel which reveals a story. It turned out that his family wasn't how it seemed (I don't want to give away too much). This new knowledge changes Michael's life forever. The best part is that this is based on a true story about a WW1 soldier, Walter Tull. The idea that a soldier would not be awarded a medal of honor in combat because of his color is an interesting topic. The book is in no way exciting, but it is very touching. Its goal is to teach us a lesson about how all people deserve respect no matter what. History, and Michael’s life as he knows it, is about to change dramatically in this touching tale that encompasses wider issues of prejudice as well as a personal quest for identity. A moving story, and sad - I was on the edge of tears at points - but flowing from loss and injustice come gain, something of worth, understanding, and an affirmation of our humanity. Secrets in families are often but they're so much better to hear face to face. Auntie Pish and Auntie Snowdrop really were hard as nails and so it seems was Maman, I loved that Leroy made Martha so happy and that in such a grey world they managed to find a little bit of happiness that went on for Martha for almost 20 years. The best-selling author of War Horse tells a deeply moving story which recreates the terribly legacies of both the First and the Second World Wars in the deeply moving story about how a young boy discovers the truth about his family. Growing up just after World War Two, Michael lives alone with his mother. Together they visit two elderly women who looked after his father as a boy. What is the real story of his father? The truth is a story full of courage which Michael will hold close to himself for ever.Michael is visiting his two aunt's, Auntie Pish and Auntie Snowdrop. They live together and are sisters. Auntie Pish is the one in charge, whilst Auntie Snowdrop does what she says. You wouldn't think Auntie Snowdrop has the secret she has, but before she can tell Michael the secret that will change his life forever, she dies. Michael is overcome with grief. Auntie Snowdrop was like a second mother to him. Before she died, she said to Michael that soon he would receive a parcel. Michael waits for days, weeks, months, years, but nothing comes. So by the time the mysterious parcel does come, Michael has completely forgotten about it. Michael has no father, brothers, or sisters. Just his mother, Maman, and two aunts: Auntie Pish and Auntie Snowdrop. It is 1940s London and right after the war. Michael’s friends call him “Poodle” because of his frizzy hair and French ancestry. But Michael doesn’t mind much. In fact, he likes being different, being special. Regarding his father, Michael knows only what his mother has told him: his father’s name was Roy, he was a Spitfire pilot, and he was killed in the war. But when Michael’s aunt passes away, she leaves behind a clue that will not only shed light on his past, but also finally reveal who he is. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments The afterword really had me going, to hear about the injustice of so many valuable men that were willing to fight for their countries yet were denied due to their skin colour. I didn't expect anything less from the narrowmindness which I know can be from both sides, I am so pleased to discover that some of the young men and their families were fortunate enough to have VC's rightfully awarded to them. This book is so touching in so many ways.

A Medal for Leroy - Historical Novel Society A Medal for Leroy - Historical Novel Society

For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org I was a little skeptical about this book before I started reading it because I didn't really care for the last Morpurgo book I read. But I was pleasantly surprised once I started reading. A Medal for Leroy is a gentle, poignant story that has some really interesting elements in it. It is about family, love and being true to yourself, and the emotional harm and unhappiness that family secrets can inflict on everyone involved. But is it also about triumph and hope and acceptance and I expect you may shed a tear or two before you finish. Some nights when I was little, I'd hear Maman crying herself to sleep in her room. I used to go to her bed then and crawl in with her. She'd hold me tight and say nothing. Sometimes at moments like that I felt she really wanted to tell me more about him, and I longed to ask, but I knew that to ask would be to intrude on her grief and maybe make it worse for her. Time and again I'd let the moment pass. I'd try asking her another time, but whenever I did, she'd look away, clam up, or simply change the subject—she was very good at changing the subject. I didn't understand then that her loss was still too sharp, her memories too fresh, or that maybe she was just trying to keep her pain to herself, to protect me, perhaps, so as not to upset me. I only knew that I wanted to know more about him, and she wouldn't tell me. The image of a happy, conventional family belied the reality of a post-war divorce that had been brushed under the carpet, whilst Michael and his brother grew up without knowing their real father. Rejected by her parents, the pregnant woman and her fraternal twin set up housekeeping on their own, struggling to make ends meet and claiming the baby is adopted. It is a fiction the sisters are able to maintain their entire lives. Their grandson discovers the truth accidentally, in a hand-written account that is cleverly hidden behind a photograph of his father, the "adopted" son. Now all the family secrets are in the open, and the youngster must deal with the fall-out.

Browse reviews by Publisher

Explore our full range of Michael Morpurgo resources here! What is Michael Morpurgo’s A Medal for Leroy about?