  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 09/01/2019 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! - Copyright 2019 Booklist. School Library Journal - 10/01/2019 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 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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