In Mabel Singletary’s book The Young Conquerors Series, Leon’s Share, life for eleven year old
Leon Chandler was living in the shadow of his older brother Derrick. Having lost their parents three years before
in a car crash, the boys came to live with their grandparents, Pop and Nana. While
Pop and Nana dotes on Derrick, Leon hides his insecurity behind humor. But Leon
has a secret, one that he wishes to keep hidden from the rest of the world.
Leon’s Share is written in the first person narrative, which not
only makes it an easy read but also enables readers to be 'empathically' transported into the narrator’s world.
This was successfully achieved because the voice and tone the narrator
are very much alive, audible, and consistent, thereby giving the main character
a fleshy, realistic existence. One can feel his exuberance for life and can
easily empathize with his insecurity, and fears.
Singletary’s expressive writing skills are further
evident in the other characters of the story. Even though Leon commands the
pages of the book (as the main character should), the other characters are also
well developed, rounded, and three dimensional. Dialogue between the characters
is believable and engaging; as are the setting and the scenes which are
detailed and vivid - one could almost smell the sweet potato pie as it cools on
the window sill in Nana’s kitchen!
As the story takes off and readers journey into Leon’s
world of joke-telling which results in disrupting the class, one can see that the
book holds Singletary’s 30+ years of experience as an educator, and it shows in
the vividness and ease in which she tells the story. There’s no doubt that Leon’s Share should be used in
elementary classrooms as it is appropriately written for kids to learn the
lessons here about good social behavior among their peers, character building,
and the importance of friendship. In Leon’s Share, there’s a lot for kids to be absorbed in and to sink their reading
tentacles in; therefore, teachers can extract the lessons to be learnt through
discussion and book reports. For example, one of the main topics for discussion
could be: What lessons did Leon learn from
his conflict with Autumn?
Also, there’s much to be learned from Mrs. Kelso
(Leon’s teacher), who takes all the “commotion from yesterday and send it
someplace faraway” so that Leon could start each morning as a brand new day! In
this very small splice of paragraph, lies a very big lesson - that each day was
an opportunity to do much better than the day before. It's a lesson in grace
- Mrs. Kelso showing Leon grace, that unmerited favor which he does not really
deserve but nevertheless she treats him as if yesterday did not happen, giving
Leon a chance each day to do better.
As the book comes to a close, readers can especially
appreciate the heart warming and endearing way in which Singletary brought the
book to an end. It’s wrapped up in a series of actions but the most important
is the change we see in Leon; a reformation almost - a reorganization of
thinking and habits, giving way to a clearer thought process as he comes into
an understanding of himself and his interaction with others around him.
Leon’s Share is an absolutely great read, and it’s the kind of
book that kids will come back to over and over again and keep learning from it
each time they read!
Don’t miss our interview with author Mabel
Singletary - Click Here!
Happy Reading!
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