The Loud Silence of Francine Green

This book is set in the 1950s during the time when families were building bomb shelters in their backyards and accusing friends and neighbors of being Russian spies. Francine is the narrator, a 13 year old girl attending Catholic school, and scared of getting in trouble more than almost anything. She doesn't know what to think of everything: communists, the bomb, suspicions raised against seemingly innocent people, her father's mantra to not get involved. Even though this book is set more than fifty years ago, it's eery how if Karen Cushman exchanged just a few key words, this could have been a post 9/11 book. Kids today will be able to relate to so many things in this book. You can't travel around the beltway without being reminded to report suspicious activity. People aren't building bomb shelters in their back yards, but I'm sure most families have a plan in case of a terrorist attack, or maybe even a stash of duct tape and plastic bags to protect against bioterrorism. I think kids will find comfort in this book because they'll see this isn't the first time in history that people have lived with a little bit of fear. Overall the book is hopeful, funny, and honest.

I have learned a few phrases that I may or may not introduce into my everyday language.

1. Blue blazes - The same as the present day 'For goodness sake!'
2. Drooly - My husband is sooo drooly.
3. Drip - I've heard this before but I just think it is so hilarious when you take a moment to consider it. Calling someone a drip. Ha!
4. Dishrag - Can be used like: "Ye Gods Cailin stop being such a dishrag."
5. Ye Gods - Which I might add, Laurie Halse Anderson recently used this very phrase on her blog.