Heroes Like Us: Two Stories

Onjali Q. Rauf's Heroes Like Us: Two Stories is a warm, funny pair of adventures for 9 year olds about ordinary kids doing brave things.

What happens

The first story is The Day We Met the Queen, and it brings back Ahmet, a refugee boy from Syria. He and his four friends are already famous. Now the actual Queen has invited all five of them to tea at Buckingham Palace.

It's told by one of those friends, and it sounds exactly like a ten-year-old talking. Why do grown-ups always tell you to have fun right before the scariest thing ever? And what do you pack in case the Queen gets bored? (Dog socks. The Queen likes dogs.)

First there's a school assembly with news cameras, and it ends in a cloud of stink bombs. The narrator is sure Brendan the Bully did it, although sensible Michael says they need evidence first. Then the TV news turns the prank into a protest against refugees.

That's where this story is cleverer than it first looks. A politician on the news calls five children dangerous, and there are people outside the palace waving angry signs. The friends don't really understand it all. Their confusion feels very true to life, and your reader may well come to you with questions (which is no bad thing).

It's also really funny. Josie's plait is too short to chew, Tom's mum has framed his invitation, and there's a list of the Ten Most Important Questions to Ask the Queen. Does her crown give her a headache? Has she been to Disney World?

A gentle heads-up. Early on we learn that the narrator's dad died in a car accident four years ago. It's backstory rather than something that happens in the story, and it's handled softly, but it's there.

The second story, The Great Food Bank Heist, follows Nelson, whose family visits the food bank every Thursday. Someone is stealing from it. So Nelson gathers his mates for a stake-out at the supermarket to catch the thief.

If you've got a reader who likes their stories funny with a big heart, and doesn't mind a few tricky questions about the world, this is a great pick.

What to read next

For more from the same author, The Star Outside My Window is waiting in the library. It's a sadder story, told by ten-year-old Aniyah in her first days in foster care, who's searching the night sky for the newest star because she's sure it will be her mum.