My Name Is Leon - Softcover

Waal, Kit De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 024198291X ISBN 13: 9780241982914

Publisher: Penguin, 2017

Synopsis

**A TIMES and INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER**

** SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2016**

'Unforgettable, heartbreaking and uplifting - just read it' Daily Mail

'My debut of the year so far... heartbreaking and warm at the same time' Stylist

'Authentic and beautiful, urgent and honest, this novel does what only the best do: it quietly makes room in your heart' Chris Cleave, bestselling author of The Other Hand

**

A brother chosen. A brother left behind. And a family where you'd least expect to find one.

Leon is nine, and has a perfect baby brother called Jake. They have gone to live with Maureen, who has fuzzy red hair like a halo, and a belly like Father Christmas. But the adults are speaking in low voices, and wearing Pretend faces. They are threatening to give Jake to strangers. Since Jake is white and Leon is not.

As Leon struggles to cope with his anger, certain things can still make him smile - like Curly Wurlys, riding his bike fast downhill, burying his hands deep in the soil, hanging out with Tufty (who reminds him of his dad), and stealing enough coins so that one day he can rescue Jake and his mum.

Evoking a Britain of the early eighties, My Name is Leon is a heart-breaking story of love, identity and learning to overcome unbearable loss. Of the fierce bond between siblings. And how - just when we least expect it - we manage to find our way home.

'Powerful and gorgeously written... uplifting and full of hope' Good Housekeeping

About this title

Review:

A brother chosen. A brother left behind. And a family where you'd least expect to find one (Publisher's description)

Tender and heart-breaking (Rachel Joyce, bestselling author of 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry')

A beautiful story told with compassion, urgency and wit (Stephen Kelman, author of the Booker-shortlisted 'Pigeon English')

Vivid and endearing - a very powerful book (Emma Healey, bestselling author of 'Elizabeth is Missing')

Leon is pure goodwill in a wicked world, and he won't leave you when you put this unique book down. Authentic and beautiful, urgent and honest, this novel does what only the best do: it quietly makes room in your heart. At the end of the story I couldn't bear to close the book on Leon. I felt I was abandoning him. I wanted to talk about it straight away with someone else who'd read it, and I know a great many readers will feel the same. (Chris Cleave, bestselling author of 'The Other Hand')

Beautiful and heartbreaking - I cried buckets of tears for Leon and his family (Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of 'The Last Act of Love')

A compelling story... Kit de Waal is to be congratulated (Jane Shemilt, bestselling author of 'Daughter')

Hotly anticipated and heartbreaking... a great read...it's no mean feat for a debut to so perfectly capture the world through the eyes of a child...his illuminating child's eye view of adult affairs harks back to the likes of Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer and more recently Mark Haddon's Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Mariella Frostrup, BBC Radio 4)

The unforgettable story of a boy struggling to belong, and the author captures both his mindset and the period impeccably. Heartbreaking and uplifting - just read it (Daily Mail)

My debut of the year so far...heartbreaking and warm at the same time (Stylist)

From the Back Cover:

'Startlingly funny. Balances the gritty with the feel good' Observer

It's 1981, a year of riots and royal weddings. The Dukes of Hazzard is on TV. Curly Wurlys are in the shops. And trying to find a place in it all is nine-year-old Leon. He and his little brother Jake have gone to live with Maureen. They've lost one home, but have they found another?

Maureen feeds and looks after them. She has wild red hair and mutters swearwords under her breath when she thinks they can't hear. She claims everything will be okay. But will they ever see their mother again? Who are the couple who secretly visit Jake? Between the street violence and the street parties, Leon must find a way to reunite his family...

'A great read . . . harks back to the likes of Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird' Mariella Frostrup, BBC Radio 4

'A beautiful story told with compassion, urgency and wit' Stephen Kelman, author of the Booker-shortlisted Pigeon English

'Very tender...the back-drop of the early eighties gives the story an edge' Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 024198291X
• ISBN 13: 9780241982914
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272