Word Play
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-- School Library Journal, 10/1/2008 1:43:00 PM
Puns, spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, telling character names—introduce teens to wordplay with these fun titles.
DUNN, Mark. Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters. MacAdam/Cage. 2001. Tr $22. ISBN 978-0-9673701-6-3.
Gr 8 Up–The residents of the island nation of Nollop become restricted from using certain letters of the alphabet, one at a time. This epistolary novel will delight fans of language as substitute words and letter combinations are used in order for the citizenry to survive. If one person can find the magic phrase to replace ‘The quick brown dog jumped over the lazy fox” with an even shorter one, all the letters will be restored to use. Dunn is a terrific writer and a great storyteller.
ELLIOTT, Chris. The Shroud of the Thwacker. Miramax. 2005. Tr $22.95. ISBN 978-1-4013-5245-5; pap. $13.95. ISBN 978-1-4013-6011-5.
Gr 8 Up–Silliness, time travel, obscure words, and twisted phrases are all part of Elliot’s story of the mysterious serial killer Jack the Jolly Thwacker. Police chief Caleb Spencer, New York City Mayor Teddy Roosevelt, and celebrity snoop Liz Smith are part of the 1882 investigative team trying to track down Jack before he thwacks again. Modern-day Chris Elliott is researching the crimes, and bizarrely finds himself in danger of becoming the Thwacker’s next victim. This is a hysterical send-up of serious historical fiction, with just enough of Elliot’s sophomoric humor to keep the chuckles coming and the pages turning.
HOWE, James. Return to Howliday Inn. illus. by Alan Daniel. S & S. 2007. pap. $5.99. ISBN 978-1-4169-3967-2.
Gr 4-6–Originally published in 1993 as part of Howe’s “Bunnicula” series (S & S), this pun-filled little mystery revolves around bad food and feline crimes at the kennel where Chester, Harold, and Howie find themselves over a long holiday weekend. There is also a joyful reunion between Hamlet, a woe-filled Great Dane, and his “Shakespearean actor”-owner Archie that will leave readers grinning from ear to ear. Daniel’s black-and-white illustrations give extra bounce and life to the story.
LUBAR, David. Punished. Darby Creek. 2006. Tr $15.95. ISBN 978-1-58196-042-6; pap. $4.99. ISBN 978-1-58196-063-1.
Gr 3-6–Running in the library gets Logan “punished”–he begins speaking in puns. To break this curse, he must hunt down anagrams, oxymorons, and palindromes. Hilarity ensues, and readers will have fun deciphering the language and putting it to use themselves. Lubar really gives his funny bone a workout with this one! Great to read aloud, too.
SILVERSTEIN, Shel. Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook. illus. by author. HarperCollins. 2005. Tr $18.99. ISBN 978-0-06-025653-1; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-028404-6.
Gr 2-8–Every reader will have their favorites in this collection of verse and inimitable Silverstein drawings. From the very first runny babbit to the last “Hurray for Totton Cails” banner, each of the 42 entries is a hoot. See if you can find these letter swap twists: Que Biet and Take Those Looks to the Bibrary. Be careful if reading aloud to a class of silly grird thaders!
Remarkable Reads are produced by the editors at NoveList, the leader in readers' advisory electronic resources. For more information, visit NoveList.
