Review: Hero by Sarah Lean

When I was offered the new Sarah Lean book to review I knew I had to say yes. My 10 year old son JJ is an avid reader but he seems to be more enamoured with comic strips and easy read comedy's, I felt it was time he widened his reading horizons a bit. I've bought him different books before like a modern take on the Shakespear classics, Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Horowitz books and he often just announces they are boring and goes back to Tom Gates, Horrible Histories or the Beano.

I'm glad to say this book has been different. JJ has enjoyed Hero and it has taken him quite a few days to read, this has really cheered me up as it means he has actually read it rather than just skim reading which is what I'm sure he normally does. JJ says this book is a good one which he would recommend for both boys and girls and he thinks you need to be about 9 years old or more to enjoy it.

Hero is a 293 page book, so it is a meaty read but the writing is fairly big and spaced as you might expect for a child. JJ did mention to me that he found the short chapters a bit frustrating, he could not put his finger on why though! They tend to be about ten pages long and as the writing is quite big that is just a short times reading.  To be honest I would assume this is a good thing as when I let one of my younger children try to read it, ten pages is probably all she likes to do in one session and then there would be a nice easy break point.

Hero is about a young boy called Leo who dreams of being a hero, he has an avid imagination and in his own mind he is as brave as a mighty gladiator. When a little dog called Jack Pepper goes missing Leo decides that surely he will be a real hero if he can find him... but there are some twists and turns in this story and it is good to see some important topics like being kind, courageous and telling the truth being tackled in a way that an older child can relate to. The language in this book is age appropriate and and it is a good, heart-warming read.

Sarah Lean is not an author I had heard of before, but I see she has written a few books. Her book 'A dog called Homeless' was a massive hit in 2012 and she has a short book called 'Jack Pepper' which will be available for £1 for World Book Day this year.

Hero is published by HarperCollins and is released on 27th February 2014, it has an RRP of £6.99 but I see it is just £5.80 on Amazon, available for pre-order now.

Disclosure: We received this book free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.