26 Letters

Some time in our elementary years, we were all introduced to a magical sentence that includes all 26 letters of the alphabet: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

In his book, Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn imagines a fanciful island where the constructor of the sentence, Nevin Nollop, is worshipped for is unequivocal genius. A large statue, which includes tiles spelling out the famous sentence, stands boldly in the center of the main city. While the island lacks modern technology like electricity, 150 years after Nollop's life, the island persists as a pleasant community where everyone has a voracious vocabulary, celebrating the beauty of each of the 26 individual letters. 

Communication is clear and beautiful until one day, one tile falls from the statue and the Council makes a bold decision: Nollop is speaking from beyond the grave and removing letters from the known alphabet. Society descends into madness as the Council reinforces their decision with each falling tile.

The demise of the nation of Nollop is told through the letters of several citizens, primarily Ella Minnow Pea and her family--father, mother, cousin, and aunt. Salvation from madness can only be found if one of the rebels is able to come up with a shorter sentence that also contains all 26 letters. The result is a captivatingly beautiful tale of the power of words and a comedically dystopian view of how communication would deteriorate if letters were removed. 

A student recommended this book to me and, particularly compelled by the humor of the title (Ella Minnow Pea = LMNOP), lent me her copy. The 180 pages fell away in what felt like 26 minutes (truly closer to 180). If you are one who enjoys puns, homonyms, and creative word play, this short novel is one you won't want to miss.