The Loud Silence of Francine Green

Cushman, known for her incredible teen novels set in medieval times, breaks from that time period up into the 1950s with great success. This is the story of Francine Green, a teen who lives in Hollywood and adores all things to do with movies, especially Montgomery Clift. Francine is a quiet girl, always worried about doing the right thing and avoiding trouble. When she becomes best friends with fearless Sophie, she struggles with her own need to not be in the spotlight. Sophie is loud, brash and always getting into trouble, often seemingly deliberately. As the world around them begins to change, Francine is forced to examine whether she can stay quiet as McCarthyism begins to affect the people she loves.

As always Cushman's prose is show more inventive, gloriously clear, and inviting. She has created two teenage girls who are polar opposites but manage to be best friends. Both of the teens as well as their very different families ring true with the adults becoming more human throughout the novel.

This is an important novel for teens today to read. The parallels between McCarthyism and today's American society are alarming. Teens will feel themselves called to be vocal about the changes we see happening around us today. Recommend this novel for classroom sharing and discussion. It will generate it. I would also recommend it for book talking. show less

When a recorded book has as irritating a narrator as this one, I don't usually continue to listen, but my 11- year-old was enjoying it, so I gritted my teeth. Alas, while Cushman is renowned for her historical fiction, this more modern title (set in the 1950s in LA) fell flat for this listener in characterization, plot, & historic detail. I agree with a previous reviewer that it is unlikely that in an all-girls' Catholic school, an 8th grader would have been encouraged to read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," nor would the nuns have produced "Oklahoma." There were numerous times that I stopped the CD to point out what seemed to be an inaccuracy to my child. Would a ballpoint pen have been in school use then?

Despite my dislike of the story, show more my daughter was able to experience some fellow-feeling with Sophie, yet believed that Francine was a one-dimensional chicken throughout whose sudden rebellion at the end was only a plot device. We both found the ending abrupt & unsatisfactory. The plot & characters were too didactic to overcome the painfully insipid narration. show less

This is quite a timeless story. I mean, it’s set in the fifties and during the Red Scare, but the characters could be people anywhere, at any time. It teaches a good lesson about prejudice and the need to take a stand for what you believe in. The only problems I had with it were that Sophie was extremely annoying at times, and that I'm afraid people would get the wrong idea of religion, since all the nuns in this story were so evil. But those are minor quibbles -- this is on the whole an excellent book.

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 and to question authority. Francine is both embarrassed and inspired by Sophie’s fearless antics, which often lead to Sophie’s standing in the waste basket, Sister Basil’s favorite form of punishment. Francine’s friendship with Sophie show more causes her to wonder if the advice of the adults in her life to “keep quiet” and “don’t get involved” is really the best advice. We see Francine mature in this book, but not too much - the scene where Francine decides to call the Pope for advice reminds us that she is very much still a child.
Cushman endows Francine with a genuine and endearing voice. It sometimes feels like Cushman is trying too hard to illustrate the effects that the fear of Communism had on people, with Francine’s father building a bomb shelter in the backyard, and a family friend of Sophie’s being blacklisted for his political beliefs. Altogether though, the book works, and by novels end we see a more mature Sophie that has grown in courage and self-confidence. show less

Narrated by Anaka Shockley. I kept drifting off listening to the audio version and had to backtrack quite a bit. I plan to revisit in the print edition.

13-year-old Francine lives in Los Angeles, home of Hollywood movies and glamour. She’s an expert on the movie stars including Montgomery Clift and she attends a Catholic all-girls’ school. There she meets Sophie Bowman who has transferred to her class, having been kicked out of her previous school. Sophie is outspoken and passionate and her provocative views on free speech, Communism and the bomb stir up trouble with the nuns. Francine is more accustomed to “not getting involved” as her father advises, but being with Sophie challenges some of her long-held beliefs about the ways show more of the world. show less

This story is set in the 1950's around the time of the cold war. It is about a girl Francine, who is described as plain, finding out who she is and that she has a voice. Through her friend Sophie, she is able to find an equal balance of having a voice, and also maintaining a good composure. I really enjoyed reading this story, and remembering the hard times of the awkward period where your stuck between a child and an adult. I also really liked how they were able to incorporate the history of the cold war and really show how it affected children at that age, what they were hearing about it, and how it made them feel. Great book!

I enjoyed this audio book even if the main character was 13. I don't think I'd read historical fiction that took place at this time before and it opened my eyes to a lot of things I knew little about.