Dialect / Narration

[Allen]

It seems people who are put off by the language in which this story is told are focusing too much on trying to translate between the dialect and standard English, rather than paying attention to the narration and to the characters. ("Context clues, folks," an English teacher of mine would would always insert at any relevant discussion point.)

Relaxing and just reading should smooth out the rough spots and, eventually, the dialect becomes second nature. You're letting the language Sandra Newman crafts to tell Ice Cream's story get in the way of a wonderful piece of writing.

[Mickey]

Loved the language. Within a few pages it just flowed. And so much more - Ice Cream was constantly engaging with folks who spoke different dialects (and in some cases, even old-fashioned recognisable English) and (this is where the author is to be admired)Ice Cream had an intuitive ability to read body language and thus understand meaning. In fact Sandra Newman's ability to describe all the little physical details involved in conversation was wonderful. This was one of those books where I stopped and savoured whole paragraphs - for instance a very funny passage about a dog trying to get a horse to throw a stick. I assume from all the loose ends that a sequel is in the works. Hope so.