A heart-warming story of courage and determination in the face of adversity.
Ten-year-old Leo dreams of performing in the West End. His love of dancing is getting him through the Luton heatwave, but his selective mutism is putting his spot in the end-of-summer dance show on the line.
When chatty Richa moves in next door, Leo finds it easy to bond with her. She talks enough for the both of them… at least to begin with. But when he learns her secret it’s clear that Richa needs Leo’s support as much as he needs hers.
With Richa’s help, will Leo be able to follow his dreams? Or will Leo’s inability to talk cost him their friendship?
Call Me Lion is a testament to the power of friendship, understanding, communication and expression in all its forms. Perfect for fans of Wonder and The Boy at the Back of the Class.
Camilla Chester is a dog walker who writes. She’s been a finalist in two national children’s writing competitions, for the National Literacy Trust and Mslexia. Call Me Lion is her first traditionally published novel. You can find out more about Camilla and her writing by visiting her website:
About Camilla Chester - Children's Author
Blog of Camilla Chester - Children's Author
WEL Publisher: Firefly Press, July 2022
Editor: Penny Thomas
Illustrations: Black and white chapter heads illustrations
Primary Agent: Veronique Baxter
Film/TV Agent: DHA (Clare Israel)
Extent: 30,000 words
Co-agents: Chinese – Andrew Nurnberg Associates; Japanese – Japan Uni
Rights Sold: Chinese Complex - Global Kids; French - Albin Michel; German - Magellan; Japanese - Komine Shoten; Korean - Green Frog; Swedish - Fyren; Turkish - Maxi Yayincilik
<aside> 🦁 ‘A powerful, empathetic read.’ – Jo Cotterill
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<aside> 🦁 ‘A beautiful book about love and communication in all their myriad forms. So beautiful and sensitive and full of warmth.’ – Zillah Bethell
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<aside> 🦁 ‘What a beautiful book about friendship and overcoming your fears and loneliness. I absolutely loved this and just know that I'll be thinking about the main characters, Leo and Richa for a long time to come.’ – Emma Finlayson-Palmer
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<aside> 🦁 ‘Finding your family is never easy, especially not when you have selective mutism, but Call Me Lion shows that good friends will never judge. 5 out of 5 stars.’ – Miss Bishop, Twitter Book Blogger
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO6h0GlOI3Y&ab_channel=CamillaChester
“I have been meaning to write to you for ages - I just wanted to thank you so much for Call Me Lion. We didn’t realise that our son, who is now 8, had high profile SM until his 11 year old sister read your book, she came to me and said she thinks her brother has the same problem as Leo. I read the book and then read it to him and it allowed us to be able to have a proper conversation about his speech anxiety. This led us to get advice from SMIRA and now he has a speech therapist who is working with us and the school, and he has been able to make some steps back into speaking although we still have a way to go. My daughter worked with you in a group when you did an author visit a couple of years ago, which is how she came across your book. I was a CAMHS social worker for years but I had not come across SM outside of the context of childhood trauma so I really didn’t understand what was happening to my son. We were just very confused as to how he could seem so ‘shy’ at school that he was basically completely silent - but at home he never stopped talking! So your book really made a huge difference to my family in terms of us finding the right support for him, his teachers have all read it and it helped them understand a bit more about why he can’t talk at school. I really can’t thank you enough.”