A is for Aarrgh!

Told in the second person by a narrator with the benefit of a modern perspective, Brooke's (Teller of Tales) comical novel opens with a cave-dwelling tribe's non-verbal interaction. ""The only need for communication was if someone had something you wanted, like a nice haunch of meat. Then you'd tap him with your club to indicate direct address and point and grunt and maybe drool a bit to make it absolutely clear."" After cave boy Mog begins uttering ""mouth noises,"" he names the sun, a rock and then people. Everything from hunting to family life improves. His language evolves further after the arrival of ""a strange little girl"" whose silent hunger for Mog's words inspires him to create adjectives, verbs, tenses and, finally, ""if""--which enables her to invent storytelling. The book takes a sinister turn when Mog and the girl run away, and Drog, the tribe's laziest, most cunning and manipulative member, contorts words to suit his own selfish ends: he creates currency and hierarchy. Will Mog return in time to save the day? With a clear sense of irony, Brooke pens a cautionary tale about the power of words to hurt and to heal. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)