Penny and Boots Books
Not everyone can see the ancient beings from myth and legend as they slip through the veil. Penny Hingston can’t just see them… she’s best friends with one. Perhaps that’s how Penny and Boots landed a recruitment letter for the Academy of Myth and Legend. Who’s Boots? She’s a serpent. Not just any serpent — she’s a Rainbow Serpent, an ancient Australian Dreamtime legend come to life. It's actually not so unusual these days. Mythical creatures are tumbling through the Veil every two seconds. The Academy not only teaches its students how to fight the bad ones, but to protect the good ones as well. That's why Penny joined. She’s only there to make sure Boots stays safe. Once she figures out a plan, she’s out. At least, that's what she’s trying to convince herself — and her new friends, including Cisco. It's only a coincidence that Penny blushes when he talks to her, really! It's exciting to be recruited as one of the first wave of students at the Academy, but it's no joke. There's the classes, of course. And then there are poltergeists, bigfoot hunting expeditions, and psychotic gnomes. Just staying alive is a challenge. But together, Penny and Boots can face anything. And they will. No matter what happens.
Does a werewolf’s fur match his natural hair colour? Penny is about to find out. She and Boots are back at the Academy, with a few changes — they’re now officially in training to be Special Agents, and that means they get to go on super secret missions. Something is on the hunt. Penny can feel it in her bones. Except, the evidence doesn’t add up. It’s not like she doesn’t have enough to do. Penny needs a job — someone has to pay for Boots’s newfound love of lattes and pastries. And of course, classes are even more gruelling than ever. And then there’s Red’s weird behaviour… With Boots at her side Penny is ready to plunge into a new semester. Let’s just hope she makes it out alive.
Since myth and legend started coming to life, Penny has seen everything. Werewolves, ghosts, witches, gods, spooky video games… wait, what? It seems the stories told through the ages aren’t all as old as the hills (or Agent Crenel). Weird stuff is coming through, the sort of stuff only recent generations could have come up with. It’s not just Nigerian princes and ‘like for a cure’ memes, either. One of Penny’s friends stumbled on a conspiracy involving a secret government agency, some missing people… and a computer game. Now, he’s missing, and it’s up to her to find him. Penny and Boots are working the case with Cisco, while trying to dodge creepy professors, dealing with break-ins, and recovering from the Worst. Date. Ever. (It wasn’t her fault, really!). What do you get when you cross Area 51, Space Invaders, and a rip in the Veil? One BIG mystery. And Penny and Boots will solve it… if they don’t die first.
Penny and Boots are going home. Not for good — trouble is brewing like a billy tea in the great outback, and they’ve been tasked to fix it. Drop bears, bunyips, ghosts and gods aren’t even the worst of it. While hunting a poacher targeting Mythers, Penny has to deal with the most horrifying prospect she’s ever faced: Her parents. On a train. With all of her friends. Penny is saving the world, cramming for exams, and hiding from her parents. Will her ego survive the trip? Probably not, but she’s going to have a blast regardless.