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. For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org

A Medal for Leroy - Michael Morpurgo A Medal for Leroy - Michael Morpurgo

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. 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. 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.

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. It is a few years after the war has ended and young Michael (not the author) is growing up in London, living with his French mother Christine. All he knows about his father is that his name was Roy, he was in the RAF during the war, flying a Spitfire and he had been shot down over the English Channel. Growing up in London during the 1940s, the devastating effects of the Second World War are still fresh, and despite Michael’s careful probing, all his ‘Maman’ will tell him about his father is that his name was Roy and that he was an RAF Spitfire pilot who was tragically shot down over the English Channel during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo | Waterstones A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo | Waterstones

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.Morpurgo is a virtuoso at conjuring vibrant stories that draw on historical events. - The Observer Review As such, historical inspiration and personal experience combine to produce this masterful account of love, loss and exorcising the family ghost. Michael Morpurgo has thrilled and delighted huge numbers of young readers since becoming a children’s author in the early 1970s," Wood said. "Action for Children’s Arts is delighted to recognise Michael’s outstanding contribution by presenting him with the J M Barrie Award 2016. His work will undoubtedly, like Peter Pan, stand the test of time, making him a truly worthy recipient of this award." In November 2016 Michael Morpurgo won the J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature.This award is given every year by Action for Children’s Arts to a “children’s arts practitioner” whose lifetime’s work has delighted children and will stand the test of time.

A medal for Leroy : Morpurgo, Michael : Free Download, Borrow A medal for Leroy : Morpurgo, Michael : Free Download, Borrow

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. I GREW UP IN THE 1940S IN LONDON, just after the war. When I was a boy, my friends called me "Poodle." I didn't mind that much. I'd have preferred they called me Michael—it was my real name, after all—but they rarely did. Michael Morpurgo’s new novel, A Medal for Leroy, is one that draws on inspiration from the fate of a real-life war hero, but a few family skeletons also inform the author’s moving tale of loss and uncertain identity. 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.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. 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.