Description de l’éditeur
The fourth extraordinary novel from the bestselling author of a ‘A Dog Called Homeless’.
Leo dreams about being a hero. In his imagination he is a fearsome gladiator, but he wants to be a hero in real life.
When the boys at school dare Leo to do something he knows is wrong, he lets everybody down. How can he make things right again?
A little dog called Jack Pepper is missing and it will take a true hero to find him and bring him home…
Includes beautiful inside artwork from hugely talented illustrator, Gary Blythe.
Reviews
Praise for Hero:
‘A touching story which captures the pain of being an outsider.’ Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids
Praise for Sarah Lean:
"… beautifully written and moving. A talent to watch." – The Bookseller Buyers Guide
"touching, reflective and lyrical.” – Sunday Times, Culture
“Sarah Lean's graceful, miraculous writing will have you weeping one moment and rejoicing the next.” – Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan
About the author
Sarah Lean grew up in Wells, Somerset but now lives in Dorset with her husband, son and dog. She has worked as a page-planner for a newspaper, a stencil-maker and a gardener, amongst various other things. She gained a first class English degree and became a primary school teacher before returning to complete an MA in Creative and Critical Writing with University of Winchester. ‘A Dog Called Homeless’ was her first novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eleven-year-old Leo Biggs is an inveterate daydreamer, forever imagining himself in fierce battles with Roman gladiators, presided over by the god Jupiter ("like a tower block in a toga, he loomed in the sky at the end of Clarendon Road"). One day, while Leo is trying to ingratiate himself with a group of popular classmates, a dog belonging to Leo's neighbor's daughter gets injured. Leo decides to cover up what happened, claiming that he rescued the dog, Jack Pepper, from drowning in a pond. Leo initially enjoys the attention that this invented good deed brings him, but the guilt of feeling like a "fake hero" and a disastrous incident involving a meteor help him step up to the plate and save Jack Pepper for real. While the meteor strike and what it reveals are an unlikely vehicle for Leo's growth, Lean (A Dog Called Homeless) has crafted a touching portrait of a good-hearted, loyal, and boundlessly imaginative boy who makes some realistic missteps in his efforts to succeed in the "real world." Ages 8 12.
