My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal

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 take Jake away and give him to strangers. Because 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 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 somehow manage to find our way home.

This is a slower paced story so it might not be a good one to read if you don't have a lot of time (I feel it would just drag on too long), but stick with it because the ending does it justice.

For the majority of this book I couldn't understand how anyone would let their child wander the streets on their own and not question what they were up to - I certainly couldn't imagine me not caring about where my son was - but then I realised that that was exactly what my childhood was like growing up in the almost-country. It just made me sad that the whole time I was reading it, I was worried about someone nasty snatching him.

What I took most from this story, was that Family is what you make it. Leon was too young to understand that initially, but by the end he had made found himself in a very unique but caring family, as opposed to struggling to put back his real family. It breaks my heart to think that is a reality for some children, and I hope that it works out right for some of them, even though it also seems hard work. My heart strings were definitely pulled for Leon.

Read my review on Goodreads