Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
If you love words, you'll love this clever fable by Mark Dunn. Ella Minnow Pea is set on the fictional island of Nollopton, off the coast of South Carolina. The island was named for Nevin Nollop, the man who came up with the phrase known to anyone who ever took a typing class in high school--The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog--which uses all the letters of the alphabet.
One day, a letter falls off the statue of Nollop and the island council decrees that no one can use that letter (Z) anymore or they will be punished. At first, the islanders aren't overly concerned until more letters start falling off and the council starts banishing people from the island for using the now forbidden letters. By the end, all that's left are the letters LMNOP. The islanders throw up a challenge to the council: Within a certain time period, they will come up with another sentence featuring all the letters of the alphabet--using no more than 32 letters and including no made-up words. If they can do it, the council will return the whole alphabet to the island. And the race is on.
The charming heroine of the book (and the island) is teenage laundress Ella Minnow Pea. She is determined to save her beloved island and the old way of life.
The story is told in a series of letters--which get increasingly harder for the townspeople to write as they lose more and more letters of the alphabet. By the end, you almost have to read out loud to figure out what they're trying to say.
In addition to being a good story, there's a valuable lesson included about the importance of maintaining freedom of speech.
One day, a letter falls off the statue of Nollop and the island council decrees that no one can use that letter (Z) anymore or they will be punished. At first, the islanders aren't overly concerned until more letters start falling off and the council starts banishing people from the island for using the now forbidden letters. By the end, all that's left are the letters LMNOP. The islanders throw up a challenge to the council: Within a certain time period, they will come up with another sentence featuring all the letters of the alphabet--using no more than 32 letters and including no made-up words. If they can do it, the council will return the whole alphabet to the island. And the race is on.
The charming heroine of the book (and the island) is teenage laundress Ella Minnow Pea. She is determined to save her beloved island and the old way of life.
The story is told in a series of letters--which get increasingly harder for the townspeople to write as they lose more and more letters of the alphabet. By the end, you almost have to read out loud to figure out what they're trying to say.
In addition to being a good story, there's a valuable lesson included about the importance of maintaining freedom of speech.
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