Worship & Music Services Worship online Prayer Music Weddings Baptism, Confirmation & Holy Communion Funerals Christmas and Advent Although, I found the displays becoming vandalised to be a interesting turn of events. There wasn’t any punishment given to Catherine after confessing. Also, the fact that they didn’t win the “real kidz rule show” competition in the end was underwhelming. This was especially the case as it was constantly brought up through the entire story. Gradually, answers are revealed in this epic spanning environmental insurrection in the icy north and a showdown on a tropical island where the Automators’ deadliest weapon is set to be unleashed. If rebel plots are familiar, Davies’s is fast-paced, lyrical and utterly convinced of an electromagnetic unity that runs through all living things. Leo and his best friend Sangeeta often feel like the odd ones out at school and in the small village they live in, where everyone else is white. Leo certainly feels the stares at him and his family as they do the shopping and walk to school, and wonders why his dad never wants to make a fuss about the mean things the kids at school sometimes say.

I love it wasn't a stereotype of an oppress Asian family that books and movies always depicts of us. On a school trip, which the bullies don't go on as they haven't returned their slip, he finds 'his' name above the door of a Cathedral on a memorial, and Sangeeta finds the name R Singh. This begins an adventure to find out about those that gave their lives for Britain and the allies during the war. They are joined in their quest by Olivia, who reveals that despite her white skin she is mixed race and her Dad family originate from Ghana and her Great Grandfather is one of those forgotten heroes. The fact that Olivia is not afraid of Toby and Catherine helps Leo and his friends. Leo and Sangeeta stand out from their class because of their skin colour and culture – and at times they are bullied because of this. Leo’s Dad says they need to be on their best behaviour at all times and he seems willing to tolerate the racism; the accumulated effect of prejudice leaves Leo feeling emotionally (and sometimes physically) bruised. On a class trip an RAF museum, Leo sees pictures of heroes like the ones in the history books – no one who looks like him. But on that same trip, he sees a commemoration stone of an RAF hero who had the exact same name as him –Leo Kai Lim. So begins the quest to find out more about this hero and others like him. The TV series Real Kidz Rule Remembrance Day competition seems exactly the right forum to tell these forgotten heroes’ stories. 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). The story broaches the topic of cultural blindspots in history education, posing questions about the missing and ignored figures from the history topics taught in schools. Young Leo is intrigued to find a WW2 memorial in which he recognises his own name; being of Singaporean heritage he has become used to rarely seeing people like himself reflected in the history books. As Leo and his classmates research their relatives' roles in the war, important stories come to surface and it's up to the children to make sure these histories get the spotlight they deserve.

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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.

Leo vows to include his namesake’s story in the class project, one that has a chance to be shown on national TV, but no matter how hard he tries, he struggles to learn anything about the man. It seems as if all the men and women on the memorial war have been left out of the history books. He, Sangeeta, and a few allies come up with a cunning plan to make sure the heroes aren’t forgotten, but can they overcome red tape, family tensions, and other people determined to see them fail? Multi-award-winning children's author Onjali Raúf joined us for an evening by the Lampedusa Cross to talk about the real-life places and people who inspire her writings and works, and replenish her hopes for a world open to helping all refugees, and ending the inhumanities of racism. I am a Singaporean and while I am glad to see Singapore being featured in the book, portrayal of Singapore is not quite accurate. I would hesitate to share this book with my children. Firstly, Singapore was a British Colony. During World War Two, Japan invaded Singapore and we were left to fight for ourselves after the British surrendered and left our island. We were not fighting for Churchill against the racist Nazis, we were fighting for our own survival. Secondly, the main Character Leo Kai Lim’s grandfather is supposedly named Huang Kai Lim. Is the family name Huang or Lim? If it is Huang, how can the boy be named Kai Lim? I am also not going into the fact that in Singapore, our family names are stated first followed by last name. The war hero is also named Leo Kai Lim, why does both the war hero and main character’s great grand father (Huang Kai Lim) share the same name? It is too confusing. Thirdly, while the writer included some Singapore culture in the story such as our food eg. ondeh ondeh, it feels like the writer is also mixing us up with Korea and China. Leo’s aunt exclaimed omo, which is a Korean expression, not Singaporean. And Leo’s family ate dumplings for dinner, which while Singapore being multi cultural and dumplings are enjoyed by locals, it is not a authentic Singaporean dish. Also, Leo is Chinese but based on book, he wears a “teluk belanga shirt” when guests came to his house which is a traditional costume of Malays (not Chinese).

Children in Year 6 will be given the opportunity to read the story and take part in activities both at school and at home. It will be used by many high schools as part of their transition programme between primary and high school and gives pupils a shared experience, no matter which high school they go to in September. Read Manchester will be hosting online sessions with Onjali Rauf and Year 7 pupils in the autumn term. Pupils in Special Schools will also receive a copy of the book and an additional title from the See Myself in Books list – My Skin, Your Skin by Laura Henry-Allain. This novel will also make you think carefully about ignored heroes that students should be learning about. As a History & English teacher, I have a chance to transform the curriculum to eliminate cultural blind-spots, and to celebrate all contributions to our shared human experience. This serious subject is balanced by the humour and madcap adventure aspects of the story (something big gets broken... ) Leo faces all sorts of challenges but there is a huge sense of fun to this book. Sophie absolutely loved The Lion Above the Door which handled the sensitive topic of race and racism in history perfectly. Leo experiences the impact of racism in many different ways – from direct name-calling by classmates to the missing chapters in a history book and to his own family’s attitude to those around them – and although this is hard to read, it is also eye-opening to see how the many micro-aggressions he encounters every day have formed what he calls an invisible bruise inside him. She also appreciated that not everything falls into place perfectly by the end, as can sometimes happen in middle-grade books. Not everyone learns the error of their ways by the end, just as they don’t in real life.