A Medal for Leroy

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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, 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. Morpurgo is a virtuoso at conjuring vibrant stories that draw on historical events.” - The Observer Review 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.

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

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. All Maman had told me was that my father was called Roy, that he had been in the RAF, a Spitfire pilot, a flight lieutenant, and that he had been shot down over the English Channel in the summer of 1940. They had only been married for six months—six months, two weeks, and one day—she was always very precise about it when I asked about Papa. He'd been adopted as a baby by his twin aunties, after their sister, his mother, had been killed in a zeppelin raid on London. So he'd grown up with his aunties by the sea in Folkestone in Kent, and gone to school there. He was twenty-one when he died, she said.

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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. Sir Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain's best-loved writers for children. He has written over 100 books and won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, Blue Peter Book Award and the Whitbread Award. His recent bestselling novels include Listen to the Moon, A Medal for Leroy and Shadow. His novel War Horse has been successfully adapted as a West End and Broadway theatre play and a major film by Steven Spielberg. A former Children's Laureate, Michael is also the co-founder, with his wife Clare, of the charity Farms for City Children.

The inspiration behind A Medal for Leroy - Michael Morpurgo The inspiration behind A Medal for Leroy - Michael Morpurgo

International Col 1 Cambridge International Caribbean International Early Years Collins Big Cat for International Schools International Resources Webinars Catalogues Big Cat Writing Competition Winners 2023 Explore our full range of Michael Morpurgo resources here! What is Michael Morpurgo’s A Medal for Leroy about?David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”.