A review by hardkaapi
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The island Nollopton is named after Mr. Nevin Nollop, the man who made the famous pangram(a sentence consisting of all 26 letters of the alphabet): The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. This sentence is grandly displayed in the town with each letter on a tile. When a letter tile falls, it is deemed as Nollop’s wish to eradicate said letter from daily use. As other letters start falling off the wall, citizens, especially cousins Ella and Tassie, find themselves in a very difficult situation as they try to communicate without using these letters. Mark Dunn has written this literary marvel in spite of these restrictions (Please try and imagine writing a book without the letter d. Now imagine writing with just 9 letters). This epistolary is short, but brilliant in execution, sharing many similarities with Orwell’s Animal Farm. I implore you to read this!