The Upper Case--Trouble in Capital City

September 9, 2019
In a follow-up to 7 Ate 9, trouble comes to Capital City when every one of its namesake capital letters—except for Private I—disappear. Prompted by Question Mark and Exclamation, Private I immediately tackles the Upper Case. Punctuated by ample wordplay (“Hyphen was busy dashing around town”), Private I searches the city high and low for leads, finally spying the missing caps on a movie theater marquee. A twist reveals that Exclamation is “crooked,” having made false promises of cinema fame to the capital letters in exchange for a little quiet. Peace is restored and Exclamation “straightened out” with assistance from the Grammar Police. Though many of the jokes are unlikely to resonate with readers at the lower end of the age range, Lazar hits every mark of a traditional detective story, and MacDonald’s illustrations place readers on the scene of a Technicolor retro gumshoe drama. Ages 3–5.

July 15, 2019
Lazar and MacDonald continue the relentless puns and fun with letters of 7 Ate 9 (2017), framed, like its predecessor, in the style of a mid-20th-century detective novel. Private I, an actual letter I with little arms and legs, is dozing in his office when Question Mark and a rather shifty-looking Exclamation rush in to inform him that all the uppercase letters are missing, a surprising event in Capital City (geddit?!). No half-wit, I realizes that he is the "last capital letter standing" and resolves to take on the case. Chaos has erupted in the city, and random lowercase letters and punctuation run riot. I discovers that his favorite waitress, B has not shown up for work in the Café Uno--now known as "afé no" due to the dearth of uppercase letters. I takes the train out to Cursive Loop and finds the missing capitals all stuck up on a movie theater's marquee, placed there by Exclamation, who, according to B, "promised to put us all in the movies." Exclamation's explanation is a subtle dig at overuse of this symbol: As he says, "Capital letters are always calling me...YES, HA, OMG!" Exclamation is arrested by the Grammar Police and put away for a "short sentence." MacDonald's illustrations, with classic typesets and hints of the Manhattan skyline, perfectly capture the retro mood and comedy of the concept. Both a hilarious spoof of a noir novel and a clever comment on modern punctuation misuse. (Picture book. 6-10)

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October 1, 2019

Gr 1-4-In this second title starring Private I, all of the uppercase letters-with the exception of our hero-have disappeared. "This was serious...If all the capital letters were gone, there'd be incomplete sentences dangling everywhere." Private I tries to question Hyphen, Period, Ampersand, Apostrophe, and Comma, but they are all busy "dashing around," stopping traffic, minding p's and q's, packing belongings, and listing chores, respectively. Only the Quotation Twins are available: "'Yeah, something's definitely up, besides us...But don't quote us on that.'" Worst of all, I's favorite waitress, B, never showed up at work that morning. A mysterious glow from an abandoned part of town finally rouses his attention. Following B's trail of order slips, Private I discovers the missing letters trapped on a marquee, by none other than ...Exclamation! "'He promised to put us all in the movies...I always wanted to see my name in lights...Lock him up and throw away the keyboard!'" cries B. It turns out, poor Exclamation only wanted a little peace and quiet. "Capital letters are always calling me...They want me to join them. As if they're not loud enough on their own!" I ties up the case and is reunited with his girl. Clever wordplay and MacDonald's colorful retro illustrations add to the fun. The anthropomorphized letters and punctuation marks are accessorized with hats, shoes, ties, earrings, aprons, etc. Ampersand pushes her "p's and q's" in a double stroller, and the Grammar Police are represented by a pony-tailed Elements of Style and mustached Chicago Manual of Style. VERDICT This lively introduction to punctuation belongs in every elementary classroom.-Barbara Auerbach, Cairo Public Library, NY

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2019
Preschool-G News that all the other capital letters have vanished presents Private I, the hard-boiled gumshoe introduced in 7 Ate 9 (2017), with a brand-new case?again pun-ctuated with wordplay and illustrated with scenes rich in sight gags and retro details. Even his favorite waitress, B, is missing, leaving him at a loss for words ( especially words starting with B ). But B has left a clue that ultimately leads I to an abandoned part of town called Cursive Loop, and a solution to the mystery. The culprit turns out to be a certain punctuation mark who is tired of being overused (particularly with all-cap abbreviations!), and he is last seen marching off to be booked by the Grammar Police, a pair of well-known style guides. Lock him up and throw away the keyboard! an angry victim shouts. But I, literally more levelheaded, emphasizes that the perp can be just the ticket when used judiciously, and he recommends a short sentence. It's all good!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)