Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee- ARC Review

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this copy, in exchange for my honest opinion. This book will be available for purchase on April 16th.

Lenny Spink is the sister of a giant. Her little brother, Davey, suffers from a rare form of gigantism and is taunted by other kids and turned away from school because of his size. To escape their cruel reality, Lenny and Davey obsess over the entries in their monthly installment of Burrell’s Build-It-at-Home Encyclopedia set. Lenny vows to become a beetle expert, while Davey decides he will run away to Canada and build a log cabin. But as Davey’s disease progresses, the siblings’ richly imagined world becomes harder to cling to in this deeply moving and original novel about grief, family, and wonder. (taken from Amazon)

Melancholy, but never overdone, this beautiful book is perfectly written. It’s told from Lenny’s point of view as she and her brother Davey turn to an encyclopedia set to help them navigate the things they don’t understand and can’t control. This book is a thoughtful commentary on dealing with grief.

I can tell that this will be considered a classic in its type- keeping company with A Monster Calls and Bridge to Terabithia. It’s heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. This book will stay with me and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it made into a movie a few years down the line.

I love that it’s written for children because so often we try to protect kids from the big things, not realizing that these things affect them too. The language is simple, but never condescending. It doesn’t hold back, but it also doesn’t attempt to oversell, if that makes sense.  I tell you what, though: plan on getting a mysterious case of teary eye toward the end!