Alphamaniacs

January 27, 2020
With a ringmaster’s rhetorical flourishes, Fleischman invites readers to step right up and be dazzled by 26 “imaginers tinkerers” who explore “the airy land of letters.” Readers encounter Daniel Nussbaum’s PL8SPK (translating literary works using the vocabulary of vanity license plates); Doris Cross’s artful erasures, which turn dictionary pages into poems; Wompanoag Jessie Little Doe Baird’s heroic reclamation of a vanished language; and Jean-Dominique Bauby’s astounding communications following a stroke, delivered with the flick of an eyelid. Other subjects include a verbal prankster who has crafted a whole novel without an E and an obsessive scanning texts for secret messages. Each individual is given a brief chapter recounting their word-related exploits, interleaved with colorful, collaged illustrations by Sweet that look like stray pages from an artist’s overstuffed sketchbook, incorporating relevant quotes and amplifying Fleischman’s themes of abundance and possibility. A unique amalgam, one that will charm many. Ages 12–up.

February 15, 2020
Fleischman profiles a merry, idiosyncratic (and by no means comprehensive) selection of 26 (of course) philologists, linguists, etymologists, and gamesters who have tinkered with letters, words, and books in surprising and entertaining ways. None featured was born more recently than 50 years ago. Most are white. Three women are profiled, including Wampanoag linguist Jesse Little Doe Baird, whose work revived the Wôpanâôt8âôk language of her ancestors. Fleischman also includes chapters about typographical artist and poet Mary Ellen Solt, Klingon language inventor Marc Okrand, "stylometrist" David Wallace (who used a computer to analyze the writing styles of the authors of the Federalist Papers), obsessive diarist Robert Shields, and Georges Perec, whose "erotic" (a word that goes undefined) novella Les Revenentes uses no vowels but "e." Sweet's illustrations accompanying each three- to five-page profile provide a beautiful pacing and design for the book, with precisely detailed backgrounds that often incorporate lined paper; maps and diagrams and cartoon interpretations that are both amusing and elucidating; and splashes of her signature warm reds and pinks that energize here and calm there. The ebullient charms both of Fleischman's breezy accounts and of the work of those profiled are considerable but possibly not universal. Yet for anyone who enjoys words, or books themselves, there's much to love here in the catalog of serious and silly ways in which language and letters have been deployed, reworked, analyzed, and improved on. The backmatter includes source notes and a list of resources for "Further Entertainment." Marvelously diverting. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Fleischman describes the accomplishments of 26 (one for every letter of the alphabet) inventors of systems having to do with language, words, etymology, linguistics, dialects, books, and as the author would put it, verbal wonders. The collective biography includes Daniel Nussbaum, an author who developed a language based on California vanity license plates; Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French journalist who suffered a major stroke and taught himself to write using only an eyelash; Jessie Little Doe Baird, a Native American linguist who worked to revive her Wampanoag language; Marc Okrand, the inventor of Klingon language (of Star Trek fame); Frederic Cassidy, editor in chief of the Dictionary of American Regional English; and Doris Cross, a painter who repurposes dictionaries with pictures linking words on opposite sides of the pages. While they hail from different backgrounds, these writers and word lovers find joy in experimenting with language. There are dreamers like Robert McCormick (who tried to standardize English spelling) and Ludwik Zamenhof (whose quest for a universal language resulted in Esperanto). Sweet's illustrations gracefully complement the text and demonstrate the prevalence of images in our modern world. Back matter offers websites and books that expand on the very short entries for each subject. VERDICT In an age driven by images, this book is an anomaly. Its audience is language lovers. Even though Fleischman's gushing writing style gets in the way of his own love for the subject, the book has unusual appeal and is beautifully produced.-Patricia Aakre, P.S. 89, New York

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2020
Grades 8-11 In this collection of brain-tickling tales, words are presented as more than mere devices for relaying information. To Fleischman, they are also malleable objects of visual and audial wonder, which he illustrates by introducing 26 wordsmiths, poets, artists, and lovers of language who made their mark on history through remarkable creative endeavors. Included are Jean-Dominique Bauby, who composed sentences by blinking a single eyelid; Marc Okrand, inventor of the Klingon language; and Mary Ellen Solt, creator of spectacular concrete poetry? poems that also look like their subject. The stories?covering mostly white men from the twentieth century?are told in a playful, conversational style, supplemented by Sweet's gorgeous mixed-media illustrations that, along with an attractive layout and high-quality paper, result in a beautiful object of a book. Unfortunately, anecdotes often rely on historical and literary context that the target audience may be missing. As Fleischman attempts to connect with younger generations?referencing YouTube but also iPods?he misses the opportunity to highlight perhaps the biggest influencers of linguistic evolution: teenagers. Still, an alluring gift for dedicated word nerds.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from February 15, 2020
Fleischman profiles a merry, idiosyncratic (and by no means comprehensive) selection of 26 (of course) philologists, linguists, etymologists, and gamesters who have tinkered with letters, words, and books in surprising and entertaining ways. None featured was born more recently than 50 years ago. Most are white. Three women are profiled, including Wampanoag linguist Jesse Little Doe Baird, whose work revived the W�pan��t8��k language of her ancestors. Fleischman also includes chapters about typographical artist and poet Mary Ellen Solt, Klingon language inventor Marc Okrand, "stylometrist" David Wallace (who used a computer to analyze the writing styles of the authors of the Federalist Papers), obsessive diarist Robert Shields, and Georges Perec, whose "erotic" (a word that goes undefined) novella Les Revenentes uses no vowels but "e." Sweet's illustrations accompanying each three- to five-page profile provide a beautiful pacing and design for the book, with precisely detailed backgrounds that often incorporate lined paper; maps and diagrams and cartoon interpretations that are both amusing and elucidating; and splashes of her signature warm reds and pinks that energize here and calm there. The ebullient charms both of Fleischman's breezy accounts and of the work of those profiled are considerable but possibly not universal. Yet for anyone who enjoys words, or books themselves, there's much to love here in the catalog of serious and silly ways in which language and letters have been deployed, reworked, analyzed, and improved on. The backmatter includes source notes and a list of resources for "Further Entertainment." Marvelously diverting. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.