"Today is National Punctuation Day!" the librarian exclaimed.

September 24 is National Punctuation Day.  In honor of the occasion, here are a few resources to help you choose and use the right punctuation marks.

Woe Is I : The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’Conner is a humorous (yes, humorous) guide to good grammar usage.  According to O'Conner, "There's nothing much to punctuating a sentence, really, beyond a little comma sense.  Get the commas right, and the rest will fall into place."

Download a free, weekly podcast of Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing from iTunes.  Mignon Fogarty (aka Grammar Girl) is an expert at explaining the often confusing world of tenses, parts of speech, and punctuation.  Look for her book, Grammar Girl Presents: The Ultimate Writing Guide for Students, in the Library’s teen collection.

Listen to Robert Lane Greene as he reviews “Three Books for the Language Lover in Your Life” on NPR Books.  In his own book, You Are What You Speak:  Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity, Greene, an international correspondent and speaker of  9 languages, “takes readers on a rollicking tour around the world, illustrating with vivid anecdotes the role language beliefs play in shaping our identities, for good and ill.”

Enter the National Punctuation Day Essay Contest or try one of these other How To Celebrate National Punctuation Day activities.