A Medal for Leroy

Written very intensely in the first person singular – does any other contemporary author use the letter ‘I’ quite so often? – this deceptively simple story packs in an enormous amount as well as delivering a series of knock-out emotional punches. Loosely based on the life of Walter Tull, England’s first black professional footballer, to whose memory the book is dedicated, issues of identity and loyalty come together with all Morpurgo’s by now finely honed skill as a storyteller. Beautifully illustrated in black and white by Michael Foreman, who initially suggested the idea of making a story about Tull’s life, there is something for everyone here including the Football Association, currently worried about the sort of racial abuse that also briefly informed Tull’s life as a soccer player before he was killed in the First World War. Denied a deserved medal for bravery at the time, this omission is finally made good by his grandson Michael, who only becomes aware of his grandfather’s existence as his own story develops. Wherever there are still School Libraries, this story should surely be in them.