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.

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

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. David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”. 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.

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 Medal for Leroy: Michael Morpurgo on new book - BBC A Medal for Leroy: Michael Morpurgo on new book - BBC

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. For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org 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. 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.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. Explore our full range of Michael Morpurgo resources here! What is Michael Morpurgo’s A Medal for Leroy about? 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.

A Medal for Leroy Activity Pack - Twinkl Michael Morpurgo A Medal for Leroy Activity Pack - Twinkl

Morpurgo added: “Storymakers and storytellers like Barrie, and like all the previous winners of this award, have given us the hope and faith children need, we need, to keep flying, have sustained us through dark and troubled times, have banished doubt. To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself. This is simply the icing on the cake.” You can also read about his life in War Child to War Horse,a collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson. 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.As Michael reads through his Auntie Snowdrop's words, he discovers a deep secret: he is not who he thinks he is. 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.

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

Tull’s exceptional talent for football and his cool gallantry in battle are recognisable qualities in the character of Leroy. 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. Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR) Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.11 Ocr_module_version 0.0.14 Openlibrary_edition 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.

Michael Morpurgo Press Reviews

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 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.