Francine Green doesn’t speak up much, and who can blame her? Her parents aren’t interested in her opinions, the nuns at school punish g...
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Jan 09, 2012
Katie
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Karen Cushman’s new historical fiction book is modern compared to her other novels. The Loud Silence of Francine Green takes place in 1950’s Los Angeles during the height of the Red Scare and McCarthyism. Thirteen year old Francine attends All Saints School for Girls, and is constantly being told, by her parents, her teachers, and her confessor, to keep quiet and do as she is told. On the other hand, her new best friend, Sophie, encourages her, by example, to speak out against what is wrong a
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Dec 05, 2008
Brenda
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“The Loud Silence of Francine Green”
I found this book really interesting. My favorite quote of the book was, “I just want to live my life without any problems, without getting into any trouble". This is true, Francine doesn't speak up much. Her parents aren't interested in her opinions, this makes Francine be quieter and not really have any opinions and never speak her mind. The nuns at school punish girls who ask too many questions, so the idea of ever speaking out in school frig More...
I found this book really interesting. My favorite quote of the book was, “I just want to live my life without any problems, without getting into any trouble". This is true, Francine doesn't speak up much. Her parents aren't interested in her opinions, this makes Francine be quieter and not really have any opinions and never speak her mind. The nuns at school punish girls who ask too many questions, so the idea of ever speaking out in school frig More...
May 07, 2011
I love Karen Cushman - I need to add other books of hers that I read to my Goodreads shelves.
Karen writes historical fiction for younger teens, but good enough for older readers. This particular gem takes place in California in 1949/50 and does a good job of recalling the era after WWII and before the Korean War when we first became caught up in the arms race. Cushman uses her 8th grade character, Francine Green, to highlight the confusing and hypocritical rhetoric that characterized More...
Karen writes historical fiction for younger teens, but good enough for older readers. This particular gem takes place in California in 1949/50 and does a good job of recalling the era after WWII and before the Korean War when we first became caught up in the arms race. Cushman uses her 8th grade character, Francine Green, to highlight the confusing and hypocritical rhetoric that characterized More...
Feb 19, 2011
Theophilus
rated it: 
It was ok. I don't venture into young adult literature often, but this was definitely worth a detour from my usual historical fiction and African Americans in American history diet. The story takes place in early 1950s Hollywood. Far enough from my midwestern childhood to be intriguing and somehow familiar. The main character Francine Green is in middle school during her transition years from child to young woman. She meets and becomes best friends with a girl who was just kicked out of her
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May 12, 2008
Lisa
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This YA novel covers a time period most teens probably don't know much about-the blacklisting of actors thought to be members of the communist party. Francine, with the help of her friend Sophie, slowly begins to realize the unfairness of this. She gradually gains enough confidence to speak up about it. An interesting part of history seen through the eyes of a teen, but also a good example of a teen fighting for what he/she thinks is right.
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Sep 11, 2010
Hilary
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Francine has always been the type of girl to do as she's told and not question authority. It seems to be the best way to survive in a strict Catholic School. It all begins to change, though, when she befriends the new outspoken and rebellious girl, Sophie Bowman, in the year of 1949-1950. Sophie continually questions what she is begin told to do, insisting that it is her duty to stand up to her right to free speech. Most people, especially their teacher, Sister Basil the Great, do not appreciate
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Feb 11, 2011
Lauren
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Surprisingly enjoyed this book. Had to read it for a grad class. Loved the voice and style. My favorite chapter is the one towards the beginning about paper dolls. :)
Francine is a young teenage girl growing up during the 1950's. She is obsessed with movie stars and likes to read. She meets the outgoing and outrageous Sophie and experiences her first best friend. She attends an all-girl Catholic school in Los Angeles where she keeps quiet and stays out of trouble with the evil Sister Ba More...
Francine is a young teenage girl growing up during the 1950's. She is obsessed with movie stars and likes to read. She meets the outgoing and outrageous Sophie and experiences her first best friend. She attends an all-girl Catholic school in Los Angeles where she keeps quiet and stays out of trouble with the evil Sister Ba More...
Dec 08, 2009
Annette
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One of the reasons I like this book, is because I feel like I have a lot in common with the main character, Francine. Francine is quiet, timid, shy, obedient, and is always trying to avoid conflict or trouble of any kind. she has a pretty and popular older sister, but feels that she is hopeless. All of these things also describe me at the age of 13.
Another reason I like this book is the setting. I love to learn about the 1950's, I love the music, fashions, slang, cars, jukeboxes, More...
Another reason I like this book is the setting. I love to learn about the 1950's, I love the music, fashions, slang, cars, jukeboxes, More...
Jul 10, 2010
Phillip
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I will read anything by Karen Cushman, and this book justifies that sentiment. Like all of her previous offerings, the novel follows the trials and travails of an insightful girl trying to manage growing up in a challenging environment. In her first foray out of the medieval and frontier settings she pitches her protagonist, Francine Green, against McCarthyism and the red scare. As we follow Francine through her eighth grade experience in a Los Angeles Catholic school she tries to make sense
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Aug 03, 2009
Vicki
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This book skews a little younger in the YA category. It's for young teens, I guess, and older kids, but whomever winds up choosing it, I think they'd love it. Francine is quiet because it keeps her out of trouble -- she's been bullied into quietness by nuns, her parents, and her big sister. It's 1950, and McCarthy is making his lists, and people are thinking about bomb shelters and nuclear war -- Francine's new friend Sophie is vocal about everything, and it gets her called a communist. The
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Jul 05, 2010
Julie
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Karen Cushman strikes again! This is much more modern than her other (excellent) books, but the story is still very much set in a specific historical period. Francine has always been told to "Sit down, Francine," and "Be quiet, Francine," and so she has always kept her head down and let others get in trouble. But when someone actually asks her, "Francine, what do you think?" she begins to find her own voice. She begins questioning things she's always taken for grant
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Oct 20, 2010
Genie
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I enjoyed this in the sense it is set in 1949, about two 8th-grade girls in Catholic girls' school. Although some things had changed by my time in Catholic school, I certainly found plenty to relate to, and parts of it were laugh-out-loud funny. My Mom is about 10 years older than these girls in the story, and there were also anecdotes that directly recalled stories my Mom told me about that time, which I also enjoyed. Karen Cushman has a hard edge to her voice, which I don't always like, and I
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Jan 07, 2009
Bethany
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This was a fairly entertaining book. The historical quality of it is the most interesting - providing a look at life in America during the 1950s and the fear of communism and the hydrogen bomb. It actually is quite relevant with regard to the aftermath of 9/11 and the scrutiny that many Muslim-Americans faced.
Francine is a likable character who has always been a "good girl", but when she befriends liberal-minded Sophie Bowman, Francine embraces her inner rebel. Not only More...
Francine is a likable character who has always been a "good girl", but when she befriends liberal-minded Sophie Bowman, Francine embraces her inner rebel. Not only More...
Mar 12, 2011
Rebecca
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I had forgotten about Karen Cushman until one of my students was looking for books to read and I ran across The Midwife's Apprentice and remembered what a great book it was. Karen Cushman writes the most wonderful historical fiction, and The Loud Silence of Francine Green is no exception. I loved the book. It really helped me realize how real the threat of the cold war and "the bomb" was to everyone in the 1950s. This book really dispels the "Leave it to Beaver" 1950s that ev
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Aug 04, 2010
Laura
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I've loved Karen Cushman's historical fiction about the medieval times, so I was excited to read this new one about a young girl during the early 1950's while WWII was still fresh on her mind and people were building bomb shelters to protect themselves from communist attacks. This is not as light hearted as Cushman's other books because it deals with some serious issues. To make the themes and conflicts more relevant, we have a generation of people who are still living that could further talk
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Apr 05, 2009
Rachel
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Parts of this book were good and I liked the shy main character and her rowdy friend Sophie. As for the historical novel aspect it seemed like the author started with a list of stuff going on in the 50's and brought each one in. Not very realistic that a teenager would be directly affected by hollywood black lists, red scare, backyard bomb shelters etc. Her young brother was a stereotyped cute scamp talking in a babyish way which I find grating and unrealistic. I didn't hate this book but I woul
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Sep 08, 2009
Andrea
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Original review at The Little Bookworm
Francine lives in America in 1949/1950 at the beginning of the Cold Ward when everyone was fearful of Communists and bombs and Senator McCarthy was beginning his inquiries. She is a quiet girl who wants nothing more than to stay out of trouble. She cannot even write a big part for herself in the screenplay in her head. But when Francine meets the irrepressible Sophie, things begin to change for Francine and she begins to think outside of her o More...
Francine lives in America in 1949/1950 at the beginning of the Cold Ward when everyone was fearful of Communists and bombs and Senator McCarthy was beginning his inquiries. She is a quiet girl who wants nothing more than to stay out of trouble. She cannot even write a big part for herself in the screenplay in her head. But when Francine meets the irrepressible Sophie, things begin to change for Francine and she begins to think outside of her o More...
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Sep 04, 2008
Patty
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My favorite quote from the book: "Unlike most Catholic girls, I'd never wanted to be a nun. I thought about being a saint sometimes---it seemed the highest calling to which a Catholic girl could aspire, since Mother of God was already taken---but never a nun."
I would recommend this book to a high school teacher trying to find a way to supplement curriculum about the 1950s and the red scare. A kid reading it would have to be really interested in contemporary history to wan More...
I would recommend this book to a high school teacher trying to find a way to supplement curriculum about the 1950s and the red scare. A kid reading it would have to be really interested in contemporary history to wan More...
Apr 25, 2008
Waffle...♥
rated it:
Fairly interesting and educational but plain boring. I was okay with it for a while the ending just plain BORED me. It was simply pathetic. Sweet, she found her courage... to tell her teacher that she THREW THE WASTEBASKET INTO THE FIRE? On purpose? And what kind of standing up will that do? What pure good would it do besides making a teacher mad and punish you severely?
This book takes place During the end of 1949 and the 1950's. The years of the 'Cold War'. It is after the pathetic More...
This book takes place During the end of 1949 and the 1950's. The years of the 'Cold War'. It is after the pathetic More...
Aug 09, 2009
Lindi
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I have mixed feelings about this book. I usually love Karen Cushman, but felt the research was sloppy in this one. Would a K-8 Catholic school for girls in 1949 have a copy of A Tree Grow in Brooklyn in its library, and would it be considered a safe alternative for book reports? Would a Catholic high school put on a production of Oklahoma? Sure, those are classics today, but that just doesn't ring true for 1949-50 school year. Also, I don't know what to think about the ending. Sure, it packs a w
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Apr 22, 2008
Jean
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I am always uncertain on how to rate a book. I liked this book very much, but I'm not sure how Junior High students will like it. I identified with the quiet girl who tried to fly under the radar and never get into trouble (and the conflict this caused in standing up with courage for things she belived to be right). The setting is the late 1940's and early 1950's during the Cold War and was a little before my time. Still I remember the duck and cover drills we had at school in case we were at
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Sep 07, 2011
I've been in a YA historical fiction mood, and this book, picked randomly off the shelf at the library, fit the ticket. A short read about a 13-year-old girl trying to deal with the fears and confusions of the Cold War in 1950's Los Angeles. The writing wasn't exactly superb (even for the reading level, it was a little lacking), but the characters were interesting and the conflict one I cared about.
Plus, the main character goes to Catholic School, and how could that go wrong?
Plus, the main character goes to Catholic School, and how could that go wrong?
Jun 28, 2010
Annie
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Good historical fiction story set in the 50s: Cold War, McCarthyism, Red Scare, intolerance. Conformist Francine befriends outspoken Sophie when she transfers to her Catholic school after having been expelled from public school for protesting her lack of free speech (by painting her message on the gym floor).
Themes of friendship, loyalty, bravery and a good sense of what it was like as a child to try and make sense of the complicated world of adults.
Themes of friendship, loyalty, bravery and a good sense of what it was like as a child to try and make sense of the complicated world of adults.
Feb 15, 2010
Cass
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This is a book that I really related to in terms of the times. I was an elementary school child in the 50's and I well remember air raid drills and getting under the desks and putting our arms around our heads to "protect" them. And I was always afraid of Russia bombing us. Nice to know it was the times and not just me being a scaredy-cat. Good story. I really enjoy Karen Cushman's books!
Sep 01, 2011
Ilana
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Loved the first person narration and main character Francine. Thought it was interesting to read the authors note about this time period of the Cold War. Great description and really felt right there with those characters and especially Francines thoughts, actions and struggles. I am like het. A rule follower, and don't always speak up, but when I have something to say, I can find my voice.
Jun 09, 2009
Katrina
rated it:
This was a fairly entertaining book. The historical quality of it is the most interesting - providing a look at life in America during the 1950s and the fear of communism and the hydrogen bomb. It actually is quite relevant with regard to the aftermath of 9/11 and the scrutiny that many Muslim-Americans faced.
Francine is a likable character who has always been a "good girl", but when she befriends liberal-minded Sophie Bowman, Francine embraces her inner rebel. Not only do More...
Francine is a likable character who has always been a "good girl", but when she befriends liberal-minded Sophie Bowman, Francine embraces her inner rebel. Not only do More...
Aug 02, 2009
Donna
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Francine is a teen attending an all girls' Catholic school in 1949-50. She meets a new neighbor and fellow student, Sophie, who is for free speech and therefore often in trouble with the nuns at school. Set in the time of the Cold War and the Americans' fear of Russian Communists, Francine learns to think a little more for herself and have her own opinions.
Aug 17, 2008
whalesister
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I really like Karen Cushman's style. One of my favorite authors of children's historical fiction. This one is quite different from her medieval stories, and I wasn't sure I'd like it after the first chapter or so, but it grew on me. About a girl living through the MacCarthy era, and how she learns to think for herself and stand up for what she thinks, and befriend others who are different. The non-conformity message sometimes seemed like just a "let's break the rules to show people we think
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Aug 08, 2011
Keith
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I love reading these works of historical fiction from a child's point of view, because it really shows what it was like growing up in this time. Francine is able to explore the world for the first time and understand and come to terms with difficult situations like communism and standing up for oneself. Sophie is a dynamic and exciting character and I imagine young girls who read this book will want her as a friend...even if she does get them in trouble sometimes.
Jun 28, 2010
Mara
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Set in 1950's Los Angeles, this novel explores the Red Scare, fear of nuclear war, and Hollywood blacklisting. It was a good hisotry lesson without being too heavy-handed. Francine narrates and learns to ask questions through her best friend, Sophie. It took me a little while to really get into the book, but overall, it was a nice read.
