Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Synopsis: Ella Minnow Pea is a young woman living on a ficticious island off the coast of South Carolina. They are a society that venerates the English language. They named their nation after author of the famous pangram, 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', Nevin Nollop. There is a statue erected in his honor in the middle of the nation's capitol, whereon there is the pangram. The sentence is displayed with each letter on an individual tile - the statue is over one hundred years old and the tiles begin to fall, one by one. The government leaders conclude, upon the first tile falling, that this is a sign from Nevin Nollop that this letter is to be removed from their language. Punishments are decreed for those who speak or write the forbidden letter (and subsequent letters) - the third and final strike is expulsion from the island. Or, death upon refusal to leave. The book is entirely composed of letters written between the characters in the story.

Opinion: This is now on my list of favorites. I absolutely tore through it. I love how it's written. Reading the correspondence of the characters is such a fabulous way to look into a story. I was gripped from the first letter I read - reading the letters brings you deeper into the story than a mere recitation of the story. As the story progresses, because it's written in letters, we get to see the deterioration of the english language as each letter falls and becomes forbidden. This is both hilarious and spellbinding; we see how the characters struggle to communicate and ultimately reach a point at which they can no longer and are seemingly doomed to silence. And then there is the satirical aspect to the story, which is intreging and adds another layer to the story which makes it all the more spectacular. The resolution and the ending are both fabulous too. I find that I'm picky about endings. It's rare that an ending to a book settles just right with me - this one did. From beginning to end, I loved this book. I'm happy to give it a PG rating: this isn't for kids due to the satire and adult themes, but other than that there is some violence and alchohol abuse, though it's not graphic or detailed. And, I give it a 5 out of 5. I loved it.