Children’s books

THE Truth About Leo by David Yelland. (Penguin; €8.80). David Rake has lost his parents. But two positives happen: a girl called Flora stands up for him in class against the unpopular Mr Manders, and the prime minister replies to David’s email inviting him to open the new library.

By coincidence, Mr Manders is even less affectionately remembered by the prime minister as the bullying teacher who sneeringly told him he would get no place in life. The characterisation is largely credible, but a prime minister would hardly admit, in an email to an unknown teenager, that the government was failing to put together its much heralded plan.

The story is inspired by the author’s experiences of alcohol addiction. It is honest in its descriptions of addiction, evasion and, more importantly, human fellowship.