Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic journey!
Review: I picked up Ella Minnow Pea by chance at a local B&N. I loved it so much that I began telling everyone I know about it. It is a amazing story of a town slowing loosing its letters and its marbles. I especially enjoyed how the missing letters were componsated for later in the book. Most enjoyable and for everyone. Cheers!
Rating: 
Summary: Story featuring clever wordplay
Review: I read this story on recommendation from Nancy, but was ultimately a bit disappointed. The overview is that a small island nation gradually outlaws the letters of the alphabet, one-by-one. The story is told through a series of letters, which necessarily include fewer and fewer letters of the alphabet. I found the idea (of the disappearing letters) to be fascinating, but the execution to be only decent; further the flavor was a bit darker than I would expect from the whimsical concept. So, while I was entertained while reading, I would recommend this to someone only with reservations.
Rating: 
Summary: How do they think of these things?
Review: I'd almost give the book a 5 for concept alone. Then, to go ahead and actually execute the concept fairly well is quite a feat. Fun to read and puzzle over. I actually spent way too much time trying to write a shorter sentence than the "quick brown fox" (which I didn't succeed in, but did come up with some of the words in the solution they offered).
For people who love words, literature, and puzzles, this is a fun find.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Enjoyable
Review: Quick read. I enjoyed the whimsical approach the author took to storytelling. Wish it could have been a little longer, but understand the limitations the author set upon himself.
Rating:
Summary: A fun book for the word lovers
Review: Such a clever story! The basic premise is: a language-loving society who, due to unusual circumstances, begins outlawing the use of certain letters until little by little, the society itself begins to crumble. Not only does it entertain by its gymnasticating of vocabulary, it also touches on societal/political ideals (fascism or fanatacism?). The whole novel is written as correspondence, so you are getting varying viewpoints of plot.I'm not sure younger teens would enjoy this novel, or fully appreciate it, because some of the vocabulary is extraordinarily uncommon, which to me, lends to its appeal and charm. The story is quaint and wholesome, the characters are lovable, and the writing is above-par - - particularly since the author, by using correspondence to tell the story, is also restricted by the outlawed letters. This is a fun book you can read and enjoy without feeling dumbed-down.
Rating:
Summary: different
Review: The day I picked up Ella Minnow Pea and read the first few pages: I knew this book was going to be good. When the letters 'Z' and 'Q' dropped off, I went to the challenge of not using them for the whole day (instead, I used them so many times, I would probably get the third charge in the city of Nollop). For those of you who haven't read, Ella Minnow Pea is a challenging book about a girl who lives on the fictional island of Nollop (named after Nevin Nollop, who created the famous saying: the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog which uses all the letters of the alphabet in a quick saying). A statue is made after him with all the letters of the alphabet on it. When the tile 'Z' falls off, the Council quickly outlaws it, giving strict punishments to those who use it. Suddenly, everyone becomes a tattle-tale and the residents of Nollop become in disgust of the fact that many are getting arrested. As more of the tiles fall down, the residents of Nollop can't use it anymore. How horrible and funny is this? Well, you've gotta read this book. By reading the back, it might not seem challenging, but the book surely is. It features 'big big' words such as lexically. I looked up in the dictionary for about an hour trying to find meanings for all the complex words in the first section of the book. The book is written in 'letter' format. The main character writes letters to her cousin, while the girl's parents write letters to each other. I give this book a 4.9/5
It is a great book to read and enjoy...
Pros: It becomes challenging; very good and complex story plot
Cons: Too much big words
Rating:
Summary: Makes you smile (and think)
Review: The language grows smaller and smaller and the citizens of Nollop are sqeezed into expressing themselves almost with shrieks at the end. Humor with a Swiftian bite.
Rating:
Summary: Please Read this and then Recommend it to Everyone
Review: There's no way for me to write about this book without giving something away and this book is so good I don't want to ruin it for anyone. This is a short quick read and the story, at the risk of sounding corny, is simply delightful. I had an irresisitable urge to jump up and down after I read it and I grinned all day thinking about it. It's such a fun story and I've recommended it to all my friends.
Rating:
Summary: An episiltory marvel
Review: This book is a welcome breathe of fresh air in story telling and vocabulary nuances. It maintains a clear outlook on the story and the writer presents a great amount of clarity maintaining the different characters voices throughout their trials of limitations. THe premise in and of itself is brilliant- english majors and enthusiasts will greatly enjoy it.
It could be a deeper novel, and one could expect more from it- but overall it is a well-made liquer jug!
Rating:
Summary: Fantabulous!
Review: This book reminded me by turns of George Orwell, Jonathan Swift, and George Carlin. The most entertaining parody of government and religion run amok that I have seen in many, many years!
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