My Name Is Leon
by Kit de Waal
From the first few pages of this extraordinarily written novel, I was hooked. Since I’m renowned for my lack of interest in children, that speaks very highly of Kit de Waal’s writing style. She’s written a book for an adult audience entirely from a child’s perspective, and it’s engaging and mature.
The protagonist is Leon, a young black boy in England, whose mother is so incompetent and disinterested, she loses custody of her children. Leon is thrown into foster care, along with his infant half-brother whom he loves dearly and feels duty-bound to care for. While Leon’s brother is deemed adoptable because of his skin color and age, Leon is looked at as a lost cause. The boys are separated, and Leon has to adjust to a completely new world he has no control over and doesn’t understand. It’s a brilliant concept, and one that could have gone horribly wrong had it not been so carefully crafted and treated with kindness. The story is painfully realistic, and characters who could have been turned into evil stereotypes are given life.
The book does take a surprising turn by introducing a political English environment, so be prepared if you decide to read this book that a large chunk of the novel seems incongruous with Leon’s relationships within the foster care system. I wasn’t prepared, and it wasn’t until I’d finished the book and read a question-and-answer section with the author that I understood why she included it. I still enjoyed the family and foster sections much better, and but there are probably many other readers who would understand the connection sooner than I did and therefore wouldn’t mind it. Deep-feeling readers who see characters becoming real will enjoy this book, since even I came to believe Leon was a real boy.
The protagonist is Leon, a young black boy in England, whose mother is so incompetent and disinterested, she loses custody of her children. Leon is thrown into foster care, along with his infant half-brother whom he loves dearly and feels duty-bound to care for. While Leon’s brother is deemed adoptable because of his skin color and age, Leon is looked at as a lost cause. The boys are separated, and Leon has to adjust to a completely new world he has no control over and doesn’t understand. It’s a brilliant concept, and one that could have gone horribly wrong had it not been so carefully crafted and treated with kindness. The story is painfully realistic, and characters who could have been turned into evil stereotypes are given life.
The book does take a surprising turn by introducing a political English environment, so be prepared if you decide to read this book that a large chunk of the novel seems incongruous with Leon’s relationships within the foster care system. I wasn’t prepared, and it wasn’t until I’d finished the book and read a question-and-answer section with the author that I understood why she included it. I still enjoyed the family and foster sections much better, and but there are probably many other readers who would understand the connection sooner than I did and therefore wouldn’t mind it. Deep-feeling readers who see characters becoming real will enjoy this book, since even I came to believe Leon was a real boy.