The Lion Above the Door

Product Information

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?

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.

Seeing Leo and his loving family have conversation, being supportive and having their own identity was a big win for me. 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. 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. 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. 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).

I really enjoyed reading The Lion Above the Door and found myself reluctant to put it down when I had to do other things. Leo's first-person narration is appealing and so endearing in its innocent truthfulness, even as Raúf threw themes of family and family history, cultural underrepresentation, contemporary and historical racism, perseverance, courage, and teamwork his way, but all with a sensitive hand and a combination of seriousness and humor. 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. Onjali Q Rauf's loyal fanbase will be pleased to hear of a new novel. True to form, the Lion Above the Door explores important social issues while capturing voices from the younger generation in a most relatable manner. The Lion Above the Door’s story covers themes about friendships, fitting in and family and fits in with Read Manchester’s See Myself in Books campaign which champions representation in books:Help your child develop kindness and empathy with these middle grade books that inspire compassion: whether that’s towards animals, friends, or people in very different situations to your own.

Read Manchester’s third year of the transition read is now underway. Following two successful years reading the humourous The Kid Who Came From Space by Ross Welford, a new title has been chosen. The award-winning author, Onjali Q Rauf has been chosen as our author and her brilliant book, The Lion Above the Door is being given to every year 6 pupil in Manchester. That’s 7,500 books for 144 primary schools! The curiosity of Leo got him into a journey of learning more than just about forgotten heroes but racism, people's attitude towards history, family dynamic and understanding about himself too. 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.The actual Leo’s story in the end is brief and not very detailed. It would have really been great if Leo was related to his hero and ends up being gifted with his medals in the finale. It would also have been nice if Leo found his diary entry where he discussed being left out because of his race, culture etc. My favourite character is Olivia, because she loves drawing so do I!!!! I love how they change the school assembly a bit and Olivia strays from the plans and shows her different skin patches. It’s really witty and I and it’s also fun to read about how they are breaking to the flight machine and use it to get attention I really enjoy reading about their plans and I love how it’s all about remembrance out of all the books I’ve read so far, it was probably my favourite. I really recommend reading this book. And because this is a Onjali Q. Raúf novel, there is one surprising turn of events when Olivia Morris, the coolest most popular girl in class offers to help Leo and one very zany episode when Leo and Sangeeta break into the RAF museum.

Leo and Sangeeta are best pals at school. As part of a school trip they visit a cathedral ,where Leo spots his own full name on a war memorial on the door. It's a name with the legend DFC and a lion picture. 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. 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? Touching on themes of historical racism, The Lion Above the Door shines a light on the stories our history books have yet to contain and the power of friendships that can last through generations. 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.it's a really good book but not much of my type. it's about how you shouldn't treat others diffrently because of how they look or dress or where there from because in the end were al really the same. Natasha Farrant’s The Girl Who Talked to Trees, in which ‘various species give up their secrets’ to a young girl. Illustration: Lydia Corry 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?