Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Go ahead and say the title out loud. I didn't exactly get it right away, but as soon as I realized what it said I had to read this book.

The set up is a fictional island, Nollop, home to the fictional creator of the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." A phrase which uses every letter of the alphabet at least once.

When the monument to the creator starts losing letters of the phrase, the city council bans the use to the letters as they fall. The first letter banned is "Z." Anyone who uses Z in writing or speech will be several punished.

Fantastic premise and the novel delivered. The book is a collection of letters the characters write to each other. As letters are banned, they have to get more creative in their writing. It was fantastic how far the characters got as they lost letters. Towards the end, words were spelled phonetically.

I would recommend this book. It is also one of the few adult fiction books I have read that are completely clean.

My favorite line was write before the K became banished from the island.

"Kkkkkiss me again, Nate, while I may still speak of it!"