Ella Minnow Pea

I adored the idea for this book before I read it. I am a little obsessed with words and letters so the premise for this book was really interesting. Normally, I'm not too into epistolary novels but I gave it a go just because if the concept.
And I'm glad I did! I absolutely loved this book! It was crazy how much the town of Nollop is obsessed with the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." You're cheering for Ella the whole time. How they have to talk at the end due to the lack of letters was downright hilarious.

Reader reviewed by Dede

Ella Minnow Pea is a 18 year old young lady who lives on the fabled Nollopton with her mother and father and this story is told through letters that the people of Nollopton write to eachother.  Ella's main person she writes to is her cousin Tassie.  Many years ago a man named Mr Nevin Nollop created the pangram "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."  It contains all of the letters of the alphabet at least once and is short.  So the town made Mr. Nollop and erected a monument of him with the sentence below him on the monument.  When the Z letter falls off, the councilpeople who run Nollop have an emergency meeting and decide (crazy!) that Mr. Nollop is speaking to them from beyond and telling them to rid the use of the letter Z.  Many are stunned, but not very concerned.  However, they then put sanctions on anyone who uses the letter z - first offense is a public embarrassment, second is a flogging or head in an old wooden contraption and third offense is banishment.  They also take all of the books containing the letter and destroy them.  People try to change their ways but it is hard.  When a second letter falls, then a third, fourth, fifth, etc it becomes more difficult for them to write eachother letters.  The more letters that fall, the more creative they have to learn to be.  The councilpeople then become power hungry and start doing things which in normal times would be illegal and using Mr. Nollop as their reason.  It's a cute story, with lots of different elements.  Also, the use of Ella Minnow Pea is great - as in l - m - n - o - p.  It gets a bit harder to read at the end but this book is a lot of fun. 

Reader reviewed by Misty

I was very excited to read this book when I read about it, and though it wasn't necessarily as exciting to read, it did live up to my expectations in some ways.  

The story follows a group of people living on Nollop Island (named after Nevin Nollop, the "quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" guy,)somewhere off the coast of South Carolina.  Nollopians are devoted to language, and though they live in contemporary times, they have little technology, and they speak like inhabitants of some antiquated English village.  When the letters of Nollop's famous pangram begin dropping off of his statue in the town square, the town council begins banning the use of those letters. The first offense for using a banned letter (in writing or in speaking) is public chastisment; the second is flogging or being placed in a head-stock (you're choice!); the third is banishment on pain of death.  The inhabitants must learn to function and communicate in a community that is rapidly dwindling in language and size; some learn they must fight back against oppression.

I was put off at first by the language (which was <i>extrememly</i> grandiose in the beginning), but I knew that it was going to provide contrast for the end, so I stuck with it.  I'm glad I did.  The story is told through a series of letters, so the reader gets to experience with the Nollopians the loss of each letter (they begin to jump out when someone uses one that is banned).  It's fun to watch as language is chipped away and the characters become increasingly desperate finding ways to communicate.  From this aspect, it is a fun and somewhat silly read.

But it's good on another level, too, in that there really is something serious going on here.  In such a slim book on such a silly topic, Mark Dunn is able to get to the heart of governmental oppression and abuses of power.  There are some strong statements here, and as it's sort of like seeing oppression in fast-forward (everything happens so quickly), it becomes apparent how it's the little things to pay attention to.  It may seem silly to ban the letter 'z', and of little importance, but this silly little thing is a rather large sign.  From that aspect, I thought the book was very successful.

It's also fun just as a lover of language.  Some of the made-up words in the beginning are irritating, but in the context of the story, it works and you get used to it.

My one warning is that if you don't have a large vocabulary (not necessarily even one you use, just your understanding of language), and you are not a "word person", there's really no point in reading this, and you likely won't enjoy yourself.


Pop over to my blog (http://bookrat-misty.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-mark-dunns-ella-minnow-pea.html")  for some truly perfect bonus material that I couldn't put here.

Reader reviewed by Mary

Ella's town has spent its life following their idol, the man who made the phrase, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, (one of the shortest sentences containing all the letters of the alphabet). In fact they have erected a monument to him with the sentence on it. However soon the letters start to fall off the monument. The council of their town declares that it is a sign from their idol that those letters that fall off are not allowed to be used. If it is the person who uses it will be punished and eventually forced to leave the town. Neighbour turns on neighbour, friend against friend as the tiles continue to drop.


This book is such a unique novel. Words are one of the most important items in the novels. Letters are practically worshipped. Ella is a character that is easy to sympathise with as she struggles to save her town. The play on words is entertaining and all in all, the book is amazing.