English Assignment-Podcast

The AYUSH MUNNIKALA EXPERIENCE discusses the book "LENNY'S BOOK OF EVERYTHING" by Karen Foxley. It tells the story of Lenny, a smart 11-year-old girl whose brother Davey has gigantism. The book focuses on themes like love, acceptance, and grief. Lenny finds joy in the BIRL's Build-It-A-Home Encyclopedia and develops a passion for beetles and birds of prey. The story also explores the challenges faced by Lenny's single mother, Cynthia. Lenny's friendship with CJ and Matthew helps her cope with her troubles. The book is a coming-of-age story with emotional ups and downs. It is recommended for young adolescents. Hello and welcome to the AYUSH MUNNIKALA EXPERIENCE, the show that gives advice to your likings. Today we are joined by esteemed Goodreads reviewer, Sahaj Muratedi to discuss the fantabulous, yet intriguing book, LENNY'S BOOK OF EVERYTHING by multi-award winning Karen Foxley. Be sure to listen for details. That's right, LENNY'S BOOK OF EVERYTHING is a book about a smart 11-year-old girl, Lenny Stink. Although her family doesn't have much, she is happy with what she has. When her little brother Davey was born, her whole life changed. It was later found out that Davey's health was deteriorating rapidly with a condition called gigantism. Thank you for your words, Sahaj. Indeed, LENNY'S BOOK OF EVERYTHING is a heart-warming story filled with love and regret. As the years go by, the more gigantic Davey becomes. This soon becomes a life-threatening problem which turns Lenny's world upside down, forcing her to deal with problems she is unable to fix. The genre of LENNY'S BOOK OF EVERYTHING is realistic fiction, as it focuses on imaginary characters that depict our world and society. This book exactly follows this. Thank you, Sahaj. Now that we've gone through the overview, let's go in depth. Davey has a condition known as gigantism, which is due to a tumor in his pituitary gland. Davey's mother, Cynthia, is reluctant to see a doctor at first, but soon came around when his abnormal height started interfering with his education and daily routines. Davey is loved by everyone in the neighborhood, but faces his own challenges with his problems. With such a hard life, the highlight of their week is a weekly encyclopedia called the BIRL's Build-It-A-Home Encyclopedia. Through this book, the siblings start to experience the wonders of the world and start to develop a passion for beetles and birds of prey. Definitely. Both the siblings start to gain interest in this encyclopedia. This also gives several positive and joyful moments to both the kids, as it inspires Lenny to become a coleopterist and gives Davey a wider sense of imagination. This uplifting book was brought by Cynthia, who, in some way, lied to the company to receive it. With the exchange of several letters between Cynthia Spink and Martha Brent, BIRL's general sales manager, there is a clear view of the strengths and weaknesses between the characters. Cynthia Spink is a poor single mother with two children, Lenny and Davey, and she is always trying her hardest to help them. Lenny's father, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen for the majority of the story, and so Lenny begins to antagonize him out of curiosity. Cynthia undergoes several troubles and challenges with what she has to live with, and Davey's frequent surgeries and doctor visits don't help. Over the course of the story, Lenny Spink meets various people, some she liked and some disliked. One of these favorable characters is great-aunt M. M is a side character who Lenny visits in secret so her mother doesn't know. M also influenced Lenny into breaking Mr. King's car window, a person who brings joy as well as anger to the Spink family. Lenny goes through many troubles, so when she gets to know that her mother, Cynthia and Mr. King are hanging out together frequently, she feels uneasily and personally invaded. As Tahar said previously, these events escalated to Lenny being influenced by great-aunt M, calling her to act in haste and break Mr. King's car window. Absolutely, Ayush. Since Lenny is only an 11-year-old girl, it would be hard for her to keep all her troubles to herself. To play some people, she can let it all out to her school and her closest and loyal friends, CJ Bartholomew and Matthew Wilson. Thank you, Tahar. Now let's discuss some viral questions about Lenny's book of everything. So Tahar, what are some of the significant themes shown within the novel? There are several themes shown throughout the book and they help us have a connection to the characters. Some of these themes are love, letting go, acceptance, grief and pain, the importance of family and disability or physical difference. The characters' profiles in this book depend on human feelings and emotions and with Lenny and Devi around, there is always some sort of connection between the reader and the characters. A quote from page 22 states, Sometimes rain made me want to cry, like there was something deep inside of me. The sadness lava that opened up when rainy days came and blossomed inside of me until I couldn't breathe. Another quote from page 2 states, Our mother had a dark heart feeling. It was as big as the sky inside a thimble. That's how dark heart feelings are. They are great volume but can hide in small places. These quotes manifest the theme of grief and sadness as it shows Lenny's and Cynthia's suffering and troubles. Tahar Foxley also describes many of them with figurative language to give a different feel into it. For example, the use of personification in these quotes express it with a stunningly fresh and evocative meaning. I have to agree, Sahaj. The themes in this book are so intense and vivid that I am getting a lot of text-to-self thoughts on these characters' emotions during my tough time. See, even Ayush could relate to this book. Coming back to the book, it focuses on one character, Devi. Although the book is written in first person from Lenny's point of view, it revolves around Devi's problems of disability and physical difference and his place in the family and society. Rousing, intuitive and life-affirming, Lenny's Book of Everything is an amazing coming-of-age book for young adolescents as it is filled with its emotional ups and downs. It's a book you can connect to, my fellow peers. Lenny's Book of Everything is a book I would recommend to all ages, but primarily for you young adolescents. It's a book you will always be able to understand. Signing off from the Ayush Manekar Experience.