Lenny Levi is one of the children evacuated from London and sent to the countryside during the bombing of London. He is miserable: the only boy in a group of children housed in a large estate, a newcomer to the boys at school, and a Jew. The children are as awful as children can be---teasing and mean, especially one girl who is sweet to adults and therefore adored by them. However, one servant and the son of the woman who owns the estate are kind. The son, an amputee, helps Lenny cope. As does the medal his father gave Lenny before going off to fight; the medal has a lion and unicorn on it. The unicorn in the secret garden on the estate also has a statue of a unicorn. (I babble.) No one changes; no one comes to accept Lenny, nor does he do anything that makes them regret their initial opinion of him. Instead, Lenny comes to realize that true courage can be facing a miserable situation. Thankfully, [SPOILER] Lenny's mother comes to take him to relatives Wales.
We know that Lenny is Jewish because his synagogue in London is mentioned, he doesn't go to morning prayers with the other children, and he refuses to eat the bacon put on his plate, even though the cook is angry that he is wasting food. ( )

When Lenny Levi is evacuated from World War II London to an aristocrat's estate, he must find the courage to conquer loneliness and the rejection that comes with being "different." Stirring illustrations of war and rural beauty. ( )