Slangalicious: Where We Got That Crazy Lingo

Nikki Tate-Stratton writes children’s picture books and novels for
preteens. Her most recent novels are Jo’s Triumph, Raven’s Revenge,
and Tarragon Island. Her latest picture book is Grandparents’ Day.

“Slang is a language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands and
goes to work.”—Carl Sandburg, American poet.

Imagine what would happen if your Microsoft paperclip (you know, the
one who lurks just out of sight and occasionally offers to help you
write letters) donned a tie-dyed shirt, love beads, and platform shoes.
Then, replace your retro clip’s fuzzy logic with human intelligence
and you have the strange character of Edmund, one of two computer
“people” who happen to be experts in slang—what it is, where it
comes from, how it changes across cultures and over time.

Edmund and his sidekick, Lexie, appear inside the narrator’s
computer, just in time to offer help with a school project on slang.
Their spoken interactions with the narrator (the text is written in the
first person and includes a lot of dialogue) form the structural
backbone of the book as the reader follows the progress of the project
from class assignment through research, writing, revisions, and
presentation. Throughout, the computer duo’s website (called
“Slangalicious”) provides all kinds of information written in a
straightforward third-person narrative. These information sections are
further broken up by short sidebars that explore word etymology,
synonyms, and lists of themed slang.

Though the actual facts about language are excellent, the format is
sometimes confusing and the thin storyline feels contrived. Playful,
cartoon-style colour illustrations help keep the tone light and work
well with the open, accessible design. The book concludes with suggested
further reading and selected resources of interest to the budding
slangophile. Recommended.