The Loud Silence of Francine Green -- Karen Cushman
Karen Cushman's books are always good, but some are better than others. Personally, I rate them like this (Tier One being the BEST):
Tier One: Ballad of Lucy Whipple; Catherine Called Birdy
Tier Two: Midwife's ApprenticeTier Three: Matilda Bone; Rodzina
Don't get me wrong -- even the Tier Three-ers are better than average. But Lucy Whipple and Catherine Called Birdy are my definite faves. (I still think MA won the Newbery more on the merit of CCB than anything else. But I also don't remember what else was up that year. And I'm rambling. Sorry.)
For the uninitiated, Karen Cushman writes juvenile historical fiction that doesn't feel like juvenile historical fiction -- in her best books, she immerses her reader in another time period without making the experience seem educational. Her characters are real people -- they aren't just there as an excuse to dole out a history lesson. It's an impressive talent.
You know what? I've been sitting here, trying to describe The Loud Silence of Francine Green for about thirty minutes. Maybe I'm hungry (probably) or maybe there's just too much. Either way, I give up.
It's 1949, Francine is thirteen, she lives near Hollywood and goes to Catholic School. Just think about all of the stuff that fits into that time frame -- nuns, air-raid drills, The Bomb, Communism, the blacklist, and freedom of speech. And that's on TOP of the finding-her-voice piece of the story. It's funny (her imaginary scripts of dinnertime conversation made me laugh out loud) and touching and realistic.
The cultural division that Francine comes to see and understand is very relevant now -- it will resonant powerfully without feeling preachy. Because the book is set only fifty or so years ago, adults who lived through it will enjoy it and kids will be able to talk to their parents or grandparents about living through it, which is a neat aspect of historical fiction that isn't taken advantage of NEARLY often enough.
It totally, unreservedly is a Tier One book.