Lenny's Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee

Lenny’s book of everything, is quite indeed just about everything. The protagonist’s thirst for knowledge
drove this novel from the humble streets of 1970’s Ohio, into the depths of childhood and the realities
of growing up. It explores complex family dynamics challenged by the tragedy of a younger brother’s
mysterious disease. 

It is Lenny’s mother, Cynthia Spink, that introduces her two children to the wonders of the world. It takes
Cynthia a chain of letters to a publishing company before winning a free encyclopedia set, her sturdy
persistence I can only liken to that of my own mother when she rings up Telstra’s NBN. It was this
exchange of letters that enlightened Mrs Spink’s character, her struggle for independence and pride as
a single mother, as she supports her growing family. 

But It is these encyclopedia copies which are greatly anticipated with curiosity and active imagination.
Lenny and Davey are drawn to the world which exists beyond their small flat. Their inquisitive mind
transports from the Great bear lake to the bombardier beetle, in a desperate attempt to escape the
bland normality of their own lives. 

But Lenny insists on ordering the world through the alphabetised encyclopedia. She leaves no room
for unprecedented events and is constantly challenged when things are out of her control. Lenny’s
quest is to make sense of the things she cannot change and to appreciate the things within her reach.
To not be ungrateful for the love and consideration the people surround her give - even if there are only
a few.  

Although, it frustrated me to the very end, wishing for a future where the Spink family were happy.
Each tragedy shook the story and every character within, forcing my hope for a “happily ever after” to
seem fictional. 

Foxlee brought to life a children's novel with mature themes, dealing with the intricacies of life beyond
the age of single digits. Give Lenny's book of everything a read, and I assure you, you'll be left praising,
"Holy Batman" before the end of the first chapter.

Madeleine, year 9

Winner of the Fan Fiction writing competition

APPLE PIE

An ‘Adventure Time’ fanfiction

By Kiara and Grace 

The sun rose slowly from below the mountainous horizon of Ooo, the warm sky painted in orange

juice and pink cotton candy clouds. In the Candy Kingdom, the bubblegum princess, Bonnibel

Bubblegum, was awake busy working in her science lab. Her bubblegum pink hair tied up in a ponytail,

reaching just below her shoulders. She observed a mixture of lime liquorice ropes and marshmallow

cream, watching the test tube as citrus green dissolved into soft white. Not a noise could be heard but

the quiet fizz of the liquid, until the ear-blasting sonic power of an electric guitar burst the candy door

open. A tall, dark figure floated through the remains of the door, casting a dark shadow over Princess

Bubblegum’s experiment.

“Hello Marcy,” she said, still looking at the test tube filled with a luminescent green liquid. The figure

slowly levitated to the desk. 

With inky black shades and a smirk on her face, Marceline suddenly broke into song, strumming on

her battleaxe guitar, “Bubblegummmm… you’re a sweetie pie… Oh Bonnibel… you’re smarter than

anyone… Bonnie baby... you are a nerdy little egg head!” 

The princess grinned, “You’re soooo cute,” dropping a pinch of edible glitter into the test tube,

discreetly rolling her eyes. She carefully placed down the test tube and ran over to her friend, who

deviously winked and suddenly disappeared into thin air. 

“Marrrcelliiiineee... where did you go?” she questioned, irritated. She had become accustomed to her

jokes, she found the whole ‘invisible act’ overrated. A cool breeze gushed past and turned her around,

only to see Marceline perched on top of the fridge, fiddling with the vial of green liquid.

“Marceline! Put that down!” She commanded, but the vampire only smirked, the test tube slipping

from her undead fingers and shattering onto the stone cold floor. The liquid sunk into the ground,

immediately conjuring a pod of strange stone-candy creatures. Instinctively, the creatures pulled

themselves up the legs of the desk, and began to dance. As they had no concept of life, they fell to

the ground and cracked into pieces. PB grumbled in discouragement, watching her hard work fall

apart. 

Upset, Bubblegum nagged at Marceline hurrying to leave. She finally gave in, swiftly snatching a red

grape flavoured lollipop as they exited the castle. It was still very early in the morning, so the air was

as cold as ice. Glancing to her side, Marceline noticed the princess shivering in the morning wind. 

“Hey Peebs, you wanna borrow my sweater?” 

She flashed her focus up to Marceline’s dark floating figure, as she slowly lowered to the ground,

handing her the woolen grey material. She pulled the soft fabric over her head, ruffling her rosy pink

ponytail. In return, she adjusted Marcie’s giant circular hat and smiled. 

Bubblegum pulled out a piece of pink paper, unfolding each tight crimp revealing a perfectly organised

list. The paper read of an itinerary the princess had prepared earlier, so she guided the pair towards the

first destination, the farmer’s market in the Grass Lands. 

It was not long before the pair reached the markets, the busy hustle and bustle of the early birds made

it easy to find. Along the journey, Marceline collected a rose, toadstool and a ruby ladybird who she 

had put in a glass jar, containing the rest of the stash in her scarlet red canvas backpack. 

As they approached the markets, the duo recognised a familiar stand, Suzy & Sue’s candles. Widely

known for its interesting range of waxes and scents, and an infamous robbery. The stall was basically

a giant candle with a range of average sized candles inside, so the entrance scent was overwhelming.

A bundle of strawberry-jam-scented crimson heart-shaped candles labelled ‘vampy bites’ instantly

caught Marceline’s eye. Bonnibel looked around for some time, until finally settling on a pink candle

scented ‘bacon pancakes’. It was sticky and muggy inside the little shop, the stench of tarts and snails

quickly became overpowering. The sun’s harsh rays beaming and the mini candle fires inside caused

the wax of the shop to melt. Watching the walls slowly drip formed an uneasy feeling in Marceline,

forcing an urge for them to leave. Quickly buying their candles they rushed out, leaving only a small

tip.

“So now,” pondered Bonnibel, “We should go to the crystal dimension and take notes on crystal

formation-” 

“Nooooo, that’s boring!” Marceline interrupted, while attempting to scrape some wax off her hand. 

Noticing Bonnie’s disappointment, she hurried to explain, “Sorry, Bonnie, but I have a much MUCH

better idea. Let’s fight… A GIANT JELLY SQUID.”

“Woah, okay, no need to flip out, Marcy. We can’t just fight my jelly squid… you know how hard I

worked to bring that cephalopod to life,” she protested. “Maybe we can go by to see if Tree Trunks is

home and have one of her delightful pies-”

“Oh my glob... you guys… you’re on a girls-only-buy-stuff-fun-day-out WITHOUT me?!” interrupted

Lumpy Space Princess, accompanied by Hot Dog Princess and Slime Princess, both distressed. 

“Sorry LSP, but look, Peebs and I go back a long way, we just wanted a day out, just the two of us. You

know, since she’s always busy with her princessy stuff,” snapped Marceline. 

“Ugh, fine. But you two better make some room for me next time... I guess I'll just go now and leave

you alone while I do MY more important princessy stuff.” 

Slime Princess was becoming increasingly more anxious, and suddenly burst out in panic, “LSP, the

thieves!!”

PB blinked. “Pardon!?”

“We came to get you!” She puffed, “We can’t get a hold of Finn and Jake!” Hot Dog Princess gulped.

“There are thieves terrorising the orchard! They’re stealing all the wildberries! Wildberry Princess is

freaking the freak out! ”

“That’s where we were headed to...” muttered Marceline. “...I suppose we can help.”

LSP rolled her eyes and glided down an earthy path, Hot Dog Princess nervously trotting behind her.

Slime Princess beckoned to Marceline and PB, then slithered after her friends, leaving a slimy green

substance behind her.

The orchard was an interesting sight - wildberries were flying, princesses were crying and everyone

was frantically running around. Small square-shaped thieves were in trees and on the ground,

shovelling wildberries into wildberry-shaped baskets

“As princess of the Candy Kingdom, I command you to stop!” Bubblegum shouted, but no one even

bothered to look in her direction. 

Marceline smirked, “Peebs, let me take over this one. Just watch and see.” She instantaneously

disappeared and reappeared in front of a thief, who was carrying a bindle stained with berry juice.

Startled, the thief tried to attack the vampire with the stick of her bindle, swinging herself around so

hard she dropped the sack, along with the berries. Marcy disappeared again and shifted into her

monstrous demon form, her sharp teeth and dark hairy features spooking another gang of thieves.

After only five minutes of Marcie’s vampire-demon action, the thieves were nowhere to be seen. A

rainbow of berries splattered across the orchard, painting it like a modernist artwork. The princesses

all cheered and clapped, except Bubblegum, whose arms were crossed. 

“That was freaky cool! Did you see me scare off those nasty thieves, Bonnie?! Did you see me?!”

Bonnibel broke her seriousness and gave her friend a bashful smile. Marceline cackled as Bubblegum

rolled her eyes, unfazed by everything that had just unfolded in front of her. 

The duo walked a short distance to Tree Trunk’s little cottage, the smell of sweet apple pies navigating 

the way. Marceline sucked the red out of some berries she salvaged from the crime scene, wiping the

red juices from her rosy grey lips. As they approached the cottage, the short green elephant watered her

rose garden with her trunk. 

“Oh hello girls! I wasn’t expectin’ guests, but don’t you worry. I have a whole apple pie on the

windowsill cooling down, just waitin’ to be eaten!” She guided them to the pie, inside the lovely 

cottage. As they entered her strawberry pink home, they were greeted with a waft of sweet, sugary

warmth. Bubblegum licked her lips, unsure if the sweetness she was tasting was from the air or her

own candy complexion. The house was humid from the heat of the oven, forcing PB to take off her

sweater, and Marceline, her hat. Mr. Pig, Tree Trunks’ husband, looked up from his newspaper and

gestured a wave, then immediately returned to his article. Tree Trunks took the pie from up on the

windowsill and powdered icing sugar on top. The pie was golden-brown - the pastry crunchy and

warm. 

“Tree Trunks, you’ve outdone yourself yet again,” Bubblegum gushed. It was perfect! They thanked

Tree Trunks and left her with a little gift Marceline had in her bag - stolen candy, of course.

“Hey Marcy, you okay?” Throughout the day Marceline had become restless and agitated, and

Bubblegum had noticed. The heat seemed to be becoming an issue, despite it seeming cold. She waited

for a response, but there was a long break in between. 

“Bonnie. I think it might be time to go back home. I know you’re usually the one to complain about

getting back early, but all this fire and fighting has goofed me up! You know I need my cool. You

wanna crash at mine?”

PB raised an eyebrow. In her mind she was aware that there was a lot of work to be done with her candy

people, but Marceline looked so quietly hopeful. 

“Sure, Marceline.” she smiled. Marceline’s face brightened, and she laughed.

“Hah! I knew you couldn’t say no, Peebs.”

“More like you hoped!” 

Marceline floated on her back, dramatically groaning about how much pie she’d eaten. 

“Do you ever think people see Tree Trunks for anything else but her apple pies?”

“Hey! It’s your own fault, Marcy. Although, granted, it is VERY hard to resist Tree Trunks’s apple pie.”

Marceline snorted. “You’re so annoying, Bonnie.”

Bubblegum glanced at her sideways, suppressing her laughter. “Are you kidding? I’ve never met

anyone more annoying than you.”

Marceline boosted from her relaxed position, her features elongated and twisted until she was, again, a

large, monstrous version of herself.

“ROAAAAAAAAR,” she shrieked in a terrifying demon voice, directed at Bubblegum. However, she

had experienced Marceline’s scary monster form before, many times, and wasn’t affected. She paused

for a moment and then burst into a giggle. Marceline’s roar dissolved into laughter too, as she shifted

back into her regular vampire form.

“Man, that apple pie was good,” she repeated. “We should do this again sometime.”

“We definitely should.” PB grinned.

The pair finally made their way home to Marceline’s cave.

✧༺♥༻∞ . THE END . ∞༺♥༻✧

🍎

kiara reddy & grace alexander 

The Women in Black by Madeleine St John

The Women in Black is a timeless novel about love, life and finding the  
perfect dress.

The Women in Black, or now more commonly known as Ladies in Black, is an Australian novel. This story is set in 1950’s Sydney and focuses on the women who work in the Ladies Frock section of Goode’s department store. We primarily follow the lives of Patty: a woman who is in desperate need of a child and a sober husband, Fay: who wants to settle down and find the perfect partner for herself, Lisa: a young lady who has walked into a refined temporary job at Goodes and is awaiting the results of her leaving certificate and finally Magda: A Slovenian immigrant who rules the rose coloured model gowns section of the store. As the title suggests all female sales assistants must wear black dresses. Ladies in Black navigates the good and the bad for each woman and how not every dress is the perfect fit.

The history intertwined throughout this story is amazing! When I started  
reading this novel I was opened up to a world of 1950’s fashion, opinions,  
language and hobbies that I had never heard of before. This book taught me so much about how different everything was for women back then and how they were regarded when it came to their decision making. Without a doubt, I recommend The Women in Black for anyone wanting to learn about life in Sydney for not only women but men as well, the contrast between then and now is astonishing.

St John has a very interesting writing style, she uses metaphors and tropes to dive deeper into each character and did it so well that she forced me to hate some characters. Now I know hate is a strong word but hear me out, what I mean by this is that I feel as though St John wrote in Patty's husband (Frank) and Lisa's dad (Mr. Miles) in such a way that made it impossible for me to find any redeeming qualities within them. The way they  
spoke and their actions throughout the novel especially to their family members continually frustrated me and that's what made me hate them so much. However, I could tell from the writing style that their pure purpose  
in this story was to annoy the reader. And by doing this I remembered the characters long after I read the book. Their arrogance, rudeness, and pettiness stood out to me so much that I continuously recalled back to them. I’m not going to spoil anything but I am going to warn you that you will love to hate these characters!

If there was anything I did not like about this novel is that at some points in the story characters would have these massive conversations that would go on forever! I remember at one point Fay was talking to her friend Myra and Fay starts speaking and keeps going for at least 10-12 lines and I really feel as though those massive chunks of text broke the flow of the story and the conversation. In my opinion, it felt as if St John was trying to force a lot of character development by doing this and it was at some points frustrating to read because it was continuous talking and no break for the other person to speak. However, once I worked through these massive conversations the story began to flow just as it previously did.

Overall, The Women in Black is a fantastic novel that includes so much development and story about these 4 women and how each one of their lives intertwine at Goode's department store, a quick and easy read with love,  
humour and life lessons.

Erin, Year 9

Autumn Rose by Abigail Gibbs

Set in a small quiet sea-side town in England, Autumn Rose is a guardian set to protect the humans, even the one she despises. She has special powers that help her fight and protect the people. But the humans fear her  

magic and her people because of the tragic accident that resulted in the death of many humans. 

I didn’t realise this was a sequel until there was a name that kept repeating in the book. Although I accidentally read this book first, It’s alright as a stand alone book because it was told through a different perspective from the first book. Everything flowed smoothly and you get to know the characters well. However, character development dragged on for a bit and the plot and excitement happens near the end of the book. I wasn’t happy with how it ended, it is a 'to be continued' story which will carry on to another book that has not been published yet. The ending left me confused as the story stopped suddenly. But the romance was bittersweet and the relationship between the two main characters were the highlights of the book.

This story had great ideas. Hopefully the next book will continue to develop the plot and the journey the characters are embarking on. Overall, I did enjoy this book and I recommend it to both juniors and seniors.

Rianna Yr 11