Book Review: No Talking

My ES and I first came across Andrew Clements and his books when ES was approaching first grade. Our first was Jake Drake: Bully Buster, which we took with us to camp (CBLI) and read every evening together. This propelled us through the whole Jake Drake series and on to other Andrew Clements books, like Frindle. So, it was no surprise that his recent book, No Talking, lived up to the other greats.

This was a delightful story about a fifth grade boy who, after reading about Ghandi, decides to see how hard it is to go a whole day without talking. Of course, one thing leads to another, and it becomes a competition of all 5th grade boys vs. all 5th grade girls for 48 hours. This poses problems for the school staff. It is a wonderful spark to get kids thinking about the power of words and the impact of both words and silence.

Having worked in a fifth grade classroom, I was wishing this had been published sooner, so that I could have read this as a read-aloud in Mrs. Brown's classroom. I highly recommend it to other teachers. I also recommend it to reluctant readers. What kid doesn't like a story of gender competition?

It brought to mind the first time I had to go 24 hours without speaking. I was at a Salvation Army Girl Guard camp (age 13 or 14) and was going to be inducted into a special group called "Black Arrow." They came for a few of us after we had fallen asleep (I think I slugged the girl who tried to rouse me - sorry, Melody Shank), blindfolded us and led us off to a campfire where we were given our first challenge. To earn our way into the "Black Arrow," we had to be silent for 24 hours. Anyone who knows me, would realize that this was a very tough challenge. I think I could do it now, but as a kid, it was monumental (of course, now I have a motor-mouth son who never stops, so I crave silence a bit more than I used to).

Confessional: I recently dug out my Children's Living Bible to pass on to my MS (his favorite thing to do is flip to the page showing the picture of Jesus dying on the cross between two thieves - he gets mad if he can't find it). I received this Bible from my parents on Christmas Day in 1972. In the back, I had asked several of our Salvation Army cadets (those who are training to become officers) from a Cadets Spring Campaign in 1979 to write autographs. (I have such clear memories of this week with cadets - they all slept in the basement of our building and one gal became engaged to a man named Rose the night before Easter. They came up the stairwell for our sunrise service and Easter breakfast and she was singing, "Up from the grave, I'm a Rose." Ha!)

Here are some of their comments:

• "God bless you and keep you. Don't be afraid to speak (lots) for Jesus."


• "Wendy - Don't ever quit talking - I'll not know who you are. Love ya Loud-Mouth!"


• "To Motor Mouth, Keep your jaws greased and your teeth straight."


• "Take it easy - my favorite Big-Mouth."


• "Wendy - Even though I don't understand why people call a shy, quiet kid like you motor mouth, I still love ya! Be good!"

So, there was an unforeseen reason why I never passed this on to my ES, but saved it, somehow, to give to my MS, who apparently is a lot like me! And, maybe there is an unforeseen reason why I feel I should share one more quote from the inside back cover of this Bible. I attributed this to Russell Platz (and it is below some sermon notes jotted in 1983 at Wheaton, so perhaps it was from a sermon in college chapel???). He said, "Now I begin to see in the nitty gritty of life, how God's silences regarding my petitions do not mean abandonment, but just another opportunity to trust where I cannot trace." Perhaps someone else needed to read this quote today! It is entirely fitting, while reviewing a book about silence!