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"The Loud Silence of Francine Green" by Karen Cushman
- Author:
- Karen Cushman
- Publisher:
- New York: Clarion [Houghton Mifflin] 2006
- Reviewed by:
- Holly Sanhuber, Muskego Public Library
Newbery winning author Cushman, known for historical
fiction, has published her most contemporary book to date. To adult
readers of a certain age, her depiction of 1949-1950 will seem spot
on: relief that the war is over, fear of Communism and the bomb, and
strictly defined roles for males and females. The author’s portrait of
Sister Basil the Great, rigid, fearsome teacher at All Saints School
for Girls, makes readers aware of her self-satisfaction, complacency,
lack of humor and inability to compromise. Francine tells the story in
her own voice, clear-eyed, and fresh. Ironic commentary and fantasy
scenes of “Dinner at the Greens” are very funny, as are the depictions
of her airhead sister, Dolores, and her endearing little brother
Artie. Under the influence of her outspoken friend, Sophie, she loses
a sense of comfort, begins to question the status quo, and finally
finds the courage to make her opinions known—unpopular as they may make
her, and uncomfortable as that feels. An afterward explains the
climate of fear, and the anti-Communist campaign of Senator Joe
McCarthy. It might have been more effective for that information to
have been interspersed with the action: a Russian émigré family is
harassed, an actor is blacklisted and commits suicide, and Sophie’s
father and she move away when he loses his job as a scriptwriter. Modern children may not identify with Francine’s concerns, but all
readers can relate to her wish: “I stomped in puddles all the way
home. I was not happy (splash!). I wanted the world to be clean and
neat, black and white. I wanted the government to be right and fair,
to keep us safe and out of war. I wanted communists to go back to
Russia and get rid of their bombs. I wanted Americans to get rid of
our
bombs (splash!). I wanted the world to be like I thought it was when I
was four or five. It was much too scary now that I was thirteen
(splash!
splash!).”
