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Book Reviewed by:For fans of The Language of Flowers, a sparkling, big-hearted, page-turning debut set in the 1970s about a young black boy's quest to reunite with his beloved white half-brother after they are separated in foster care.
Leon loves chocolate bars, Saturday morning cartoons, and his beautiful, golden-haired baby brother. When Jake is born, Leon pokes his head in the crib and says, "I'm your brother. Big brother. My. Name. Is. Leon. I am eight and three quarters. I am a boy." Jake will play with no one but Leon, and Leon is determined to save him from any pain and earn that sparkling baby laugh every chance he can.
But Leon isn't in control of this world where adults say one thing and mean another, and try as he might he can't protect his little family from everything. When their mother falls victim to her inner demons, strangers suddenly take Jake away; after all, a white baby is easy to adopt, while a half-black nine-year-old faces a less certain fate. Vowing to get Jake back by any means necessary, Leon's own journey - on his brand-new BMX bike - will carry him through the lives of a doting but ailing foster mother, Maureen; Maureen's cranky and hilarious sister, Sylvia; a social worker Leon knows only as "The Zebra"; and a colorful community of local gardeners and West Indian political activists.
Told through the perspective of nine-year-old Leon, too innocent to entirely understand what has happened to him and baby Jake, but determined to do what he can to make things right, he stubbornly, endearingly struggles his way through a system much larger than he can tackle on his own. My Name Is Leon is a vivid, gorgeous, and uplifting story about the power of love, the unbreakable bond between brothers, and the truth about what, in the end, ultimately makes a family.
1
April 2, 1980
No one has to tell Leon that this is a special moment. Everything else in the hospital seems to have gone quiet and disappeared. The nurse makes him wash his hands and sit up straight.
"Careful, now," she says. "He's very precious."
But Leon already knows. The nurse places the brand-new baby in his arms with its face toward Leon so that they can look at each other.
"You have a brother now," she says. "And you'll be able to look after him. What are you? Ten?"
"He's nearly nine," says Leon's mom, looking over. "Eight years and nine months. Nearly."
Leon's mom is talking to Tina about when the baby was coming out, about the hours and the minutes and the pain.
"Well," says the nurse, adjusting the baby's blanket, "you're nice and big for your age. A right little man."
She pats Leon on his head and brushes the side of his cheek with her finger. "He's a beauty, isn't he? Both of you are."
She smiles at Leon and he knows that she's ...
So did I identify with Leon, despite being an elderly white American woman? Well, I unconsciously started referring to the book’s title as “I Am Leon.” Thanks to de Waal’s magnificent character development, my name might be Donna but now I am Leon too...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Donna Chavez).
Chris Cleave, bestselling author of Little Bee
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. Rachel Joyce, bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
There is something about small boys and mothers that really tugs at me. I found it tender and heart-breaking.
With his nappy black hair and dark complexion, the boy at the center of Kit de Waal's debut, My Name is Leon, is caught up in the middle of the racial tensions of 1981 South London. The biracial child has a nine-year-old's agenda, born of anger, and stumbles innocently into a roiling stew of grownup rage and frustration. The bigger snapshot of the day shows a fragile tinderbox of young Afro-Caribbean men who were unemployed, with lots of time on their hands, engaging in marginally legal and illegal activities for pocket change and something to do.
These disenfranchised were the British-born sons and daughters of Caribbean immigrants who had settled in London after World War II. The young men, in particular, were suffering high...
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If you liked My Name Is Leon, try these:
by Elizabeth Berg
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An emotionally powerful novel about three people who each lose the one they love most, only to find second chances where they least expect them—from New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg.
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A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.
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