Lenny's
Book of Everything
by
Karen Foxlee (2018)
A beautifully told
story of a family struggling to cope with many hardships. Told through the eyes of young
Lenny Spink we learn of her absent father (Peter Leonard Spink) and her mothers' struggle to provide for the family with two
part time jobs. Lenny's younger brother Davey is abnormally large for his age
growing at an alarming rate, and he is eventually diagnosed with tumours on his pituitary gland
which require an operation and radiation. There are no close family members to help with the care of
Lenny and Davey, and Cynthia Spink , the mother relies on a neighbour ,the elderly Mrs Gasper to help out. Mrs Gasper becomes family, almost
grandmother-like telling the children stories and helping to care for them in
times of need. There has been a falling out with family and the children have
never met their maternal grandmother,
only spoken to her on the phone.
Lenny and Davey
wonder what their father was like, where he might be, if he will ever
return and why he left. The reader
senses a yearning in Lenny for a father
figure, and loss over his leaving them. The two children watch the arrivals and
departures at the local bus stop from the bedroom window, watching for their
father's return and dream of escaping
themselves.
Lenny has two close
friends who accept and support her and
all her troubles.
Lenny and Davey's
relationship is the core of the story. They are close with Lenny being the
eldest. The two children spend hours pouring over the latest edition of a build
it yourself encyclopaedia set that
arrives weekly. The editions expand the children's narrow experience of the
world, in alphabetical order. However
Lenny often finds herself embarrassed and ashamed of her abnormally large
younger brother and ' .....the shame of
being ashamed was even worse than the shame'. Love and shame. Complicated emotions for a
young person.
A story of love, acceptance,
perseverance and loss.
