The Lion Above the Door

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Leo and Sangeeta stand out from their class because of their skin colour and culture – and at times they are bullied because of this. Leo’s Dad says they need to be on their best behaviour at all times and he seems willing to tolerate the racism; the accumulated effect of prejudice leaves Leo feeling emotionally (and sometimes physically) bruised. On a class trip an RAF museum, Leo sees pictures of heroes like the ones in the history books – no one who looks like him. But on that same trip, he sees a commemoration stone of an RAF hero who had the exact same name as him –Leo Kai Lim. So begins the quest to find out more about this hero and others like him. The TV series Real Kidz Rule Remembrance Day competition seems exactly the right forum to tell these forgotten heroes’ stories. I felt that the museum staff calling all their parents and Mr.Scott sounded overwhelming for Leo only boarding the simulator when it was closed. I really would have like to see a chase scene in the museum with Leo and his friends and the museum staff. It would also have been great if Leo had added names to the wall to include forgotten heroes he felt had been censored.

And because this is a Onjali Q. Raúf novel, there is one surprising turn of events when Olivia Morris, the coolest most popular girl in class offers to help Leo and one very zany episode when Leo and Sangeeta break into the RAF museum.When Leo and Sangeeta go on a class trip to Rochester cathedral, Leo spots a name on one of the war memorials that is identical to his own. He begins to wonder about the “real” Leo - who he was and what he did during the war. When the class embark on a project following on from the trip, they decide to focus on the forgotten heroes of the war - which includes soldiers from Asia and Africa.

Although, I found the displays becoming vandalised to be a interesting turn of events. There wasn’t any punishment given to Catherine after confessing. Also, the fact that they didn’t win the “real kidz rule show” competition in the end was underwhelming. This was especially the case as it was constantly brought up through the entire story. Natasha Farrant’s The Girl Who Talked to Trees, in which ‘various species give up their secrets’ to a young girl. Illustration: Lydia CorryAnother triumph from an incredible writer. Onjali Ralf has done it again. It sounds cliched to say “I laughed, I cried” but I genuinely laughed out loud whilst reading, got choked up by the emotional ending, and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. It’s safe to say that I loved it. Included is everything that you need to teach 12 whole class reading sessions, based on the following texts: As a teacher who teaches WWI and WWII every year, I will now completely change the way I change these and any other historical topic due to this book and the insight it has given me. Leo and his best friend Sangeeta often feel like the odd ones out at school and in the small village they live in, where everyone else is white. Leo certainly feels the stares at him and his family as they do the shopping and walk to school, and wonders why his dad never wants to make a fuss about the mean things the kids at school sometimes say.