Michael is visiting his two aunt's, Auntie Pish and Auntie Snowdrop. They live together and are sisters. Auntie Pish is the one in charge, whilst Auntie Snowdrop does what she says. You wouldn't think Auntie Snowdrop has the secret she has, but before she can tell Michael the secret that will change his life forever, she dies. Michael is overcome with grief. Auntie Snowdrop was like a second mother to him. Before she died, she said to Michael that soon he would receive a parcel. Michael waits for days, weeks, months, years, but nothing comes. So by the time the mysterious parcel does come, Michael has completely forgotten about it.

A Medal for Leroy Teaching Resources - Michael Morpurgo A Medal for Leroy Teaching Resources - Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo is an award-winning author for War Horse, I however read another title and was quite disappointed. I did not have high expectation for this book. Michael proved me wrong with this inspirational title. The unexpected twist at the end captured all my attention and eliminated any doubts. This touching story can be read and enjoyed by upper key stage two. This book could be used for independent read. As some reference to both World Wars was mentioned in this book, perhaps this could also be looked at during studies on the Great World War. The best-selling author of War Horse tells a deeply moving story which recreates the terribly legacies of both the First and the Second World Wars in the deeply moving story about how a young boy discovers the truth about his family. Growing up just after World War Two, Michael lives alone with his mother. Together they visit two elderly women who looked after his father as a boy. What is the real story of his father? The truth is a story full of courage which Michael will hold close to himself for ever. The visits were always the same, time after time, but one day, as Michael was coming out of school, he saw his mother waiting for him and knew something was wrong. She told him that his Auntie Snowdrop had passed away. At the funeral, his Auntie Pish told him there was a parcel from Auntie Snowdrop for him and she was post it to him right away. Michael Morpurgo’s new novel, A Medal for Leroy, is one that draws on inspiration from the fate of a real-life war hero, but a few family skeletons also inform the author’s moving tale of loss and uncertain identity. As such, historical inspiration and personal experience combine to produce this masterful account of love, loss and exorcising the family ghost.Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2018-08-26 06:06:29 Associated-names Foreman, Michael, 1938- Bookplateleaf 0010 Boxid IA1342711 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set china External-identifier

A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo | Waterstones A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo | Waterstones

That's just about all I knew, all she would tell me, anyway. No matter how much I asked, and I did, and more often as I grew up, she would say little more about him. I know now how painful it must have been for her to talk of him, but at the time I remember feeling very upset, angry almost toward her. He was my father, after all, wasn't he? It felt to me as if she was keeping him all for herself. Occasionally after a soccer match, or when I'd run down to the corner shop on an errand for old Ma Merritt who lived next door to us, Maman might say something like: "Your papa would have been so proud of you. I so wish he'd known you." But never anything more, nothing about him, nothing that helped me to imagine what sort of a man he might have been. A moving story, and sad - I was on the edge of tears at points - but flowing from loss and injustice come gain, something of worth, understanding, and an affirmation of our humanity.Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR) Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.11 Ocr_module_version 0.0.14 Openlibrary_edition As ever, Morpurgo's warmth and humanity suffuse a story of courage, love and hope. - Amanda Craig, The Times Michael lives in London with French mother, Christine. His father, Roy, was a Spitfire pilot killed in a dogfight over the Channel before Michael was born. Every few months, he and Christine visit Aunties Pish and Snowdrop, who brought up the orphaned Roy after his mother was killed in a Zeppelin air-raid during World War I. Michael longs to know more about his father, but nobody will talk about him. All Michael has is his father’s medal and the company of Jasper, his father’s beloved dog – and it’s not nearly enough.

Medal for Leroy - Guided Reading planning | Teaching Resources Medal for Leroy - Guided Reading planning | Teaching Resources

I intentionally did not reveal the ending, as I believe to fully enjoy this book it is best read from the start. I highly recommend. As Michael read her words, he discovered who his grandfather, his father, and his Auntie really were and how they were connected to each other. And what this all means to him. It was all a family secret that was never even shared with his mother. His grandfather had served in World War I, and had died saving the lives of other men on the battlefield, but even though he should have gotten a posthumous medal for his bravery, he was never awarded one. The image of a happy, conventional family belied the reality of a post-war divorce that had been brushed under the carpet, whilst Michael and his brother grew up without knowing their real father.

Michael's books have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Bulgarian and Hungarian, Hebrew and Japanese. He travels all over the UK and abroad talking to people of all ages at literary festivals, telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs.