The Lion Above the Door

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Natasha Farrant’s The Girl Who Talked to Trees, in which ‘various species give up their secrets’ to a young girl. Illustration: Lydia Corry This is a powerful novel exploring courage, friendship, historical/current racism and forgotten histories. As always with Rauf’s novels, her protagonists are interesting, determined and willing to learn. Some of the scenes are hilarious – the accidental setting off of the flight simulator incident is superb – and other scenes will make you cry (no spoilers, but red paint and family connections around the world are involved).

But on a special class trip to a nearby cathedral one day, Leo's attention is drawn to a large marble slab high above the doors of the hall, featuring a short list of names. Because right there, bang in the middle of the list, Leo finds himself staring at his own name.... Although, Onjali does highlight the racism and prejudice faced by ethnic soldiers during World War Two in her notes in the end. It would have been better had this been incorporated in the story. For example, Leo, Sangeets and Olivia decide to incorporate the racism faced by coloured soldiers during the assembly finale despite their teacher disapproving. As the children embark on their research they find that there isn’t much written in the history books so they enlist the help of their families and relatives around the world. When Leo and Sangeeta’s class begin a project about World War Two, Leo looks at pictures in books of the people that fought for Britain in the war and realises that none of them look like him, even though Sangeeta points out that many of the books also don’t include the experiences of many women – and certainly not women of colour. Then, on a class trip to a nearby cathedral, Leo’s attention is drawn to a large marble slab high above the doors of the hall. Right there, bang in the middle of a list of war heroes, Leo finds himself staring at something incredible: his own name.Even though the story is suppose to highlight racism. I felt that Leo’s struggle to prove that he had a world war “hero” for Britain enforces the good immigrant notion placed on ethnic children. It would have been better had Leo’s ancestor been a army hero or inventor in Indonesia who’s achievements were ignored. Leo, a boy living in the UK but of Singaporean descent, cannot see anyone who looked like him when studying World War 2- all the names sound like British royalty, and he feels like his ancestry are lesser to his classmates. Until, he spots a name on the cathedral wall honouring the soldiers from WW2, and not just any name- his own name. Suddenly, Leo wants to know, who was this soldier, what is his story, and could he have been named after this Leo? The race is on, especially as his class have been chosen to prepare an assembly and display board which might even make it onto TV. Can he find out the information in time, to make everyone remember a forgotten hero?

Leo and his best friend Sangeeta are the odd ones out in their school. But as Leo’s dad is always telling him, it’s because they’re special. Only thing is, if they’re so special, how come they never see anyone who looks like them in their school history books?Leo and his best friend Sangeetha are the odd ones out in their school. In fact, they seem to be the odd ones out no matter where they go in their small town. But as Leo's dad is always telling him, it's only because he's extra-special, and Sangeetha is extra-extra-special. Only thing is, if they're so special, how come Leo never sees anyone who likes him in the history books he loves to read? Leo and his best friend Sangeeta are Year Four pupils at their primary school in southern England where they are also some of the only children of color. Their class is working on the topic of World War Two and both the children notice that none of the photographs in their history books are of people who look like them, nor do any of the heroes discussed there have similar names. However, on a field trip to Rochester Cathedral, Leo spots something incredible. Inside is a wall dedicated to soldiers from all over the former British Empire and included there is his exact name, along with many others – some sharing Sangeeta’s surname, Singh. 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.