NO Talking by Andrew Clements (5th Grade)

Quality Rating: 3 of 5

"Could something as simple as not talking change the way your mind worked? Seemed like it must have been good for Gandhi. But what would it do for a regular kid in New Jersey?" (Clements 8)

Overview:

No Talking by Andrew Clements takes place among a body of fifth grade students at an elementary school in New Jersey. One student, Dave, becomes inspired by an account of Gandhi taking a day of silence every week and decides to embark on his own period of silence. Dave's experiment with not talking turns into a grade-wide competition; all of the boys (led by Dave) compete with all of the girls (led by Dave's arch nemesis turned friend, Linsey) to see which group will be most successful in the attempt to remain silent for two full days.

Is the plot superficial? The first time reading it, I definitely thought so. In an age of worldwide turmoil— poverty, racial discrimination, gun violence, climate crisis, etc.— the back and forth arguments about whether girls or guys are more talkative felt irrelevant and meaningless.

My perspective took a turn when I introduced this book to my own 5th grade class. The students not only enjoyed the sassiness and spunk of Clements' characters, but also were able to participate in a text-to-self analysis that led to conversation on gender stereotyping that built their powers of expression as young social advocates.

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Strengths:

1. Models Writing with Voice

Both the narrator and the characters stand out for their strong voices in the text. The narrator's voice builds excitement by ending sections with short but anticipatory sentences or phrases. To get a sense of how this adds drama, read the following examples below, adding emphasis to the phrases in bold:

-"The fifth graders were already talking like crazy— all except one." (9)

- "Dave should have kept his mouth shut. He really should have." (17)

- "She was ready for today's lunchroom battle, ready to change chaos into order, ready

for anything the kids could dish out. But nothing could have prepared her for what

happened next."

These lines may seem cheesy or cliche at first glance. But for students, they make the text come alive!

2. Provides Introductory Characterization Techniques

Clements models how to create stand-out characters through detailed descriptions of their physical appearances and inner thoughts and attitudes. We can encourage our students to pay attention to these descriptions and apply similar techniques to their own writing.

3. Emphasizes the Importance of Listening

In a political climate characterized by overzealous partisanship, mind-numbing divisiveness, and immature and thoughtless outbursts by national "leaders," one of the greatest gifts we can give to our students is an appreciation for the importance of listening and the skills to do just that. Throughout the book, Dave, his friends, and his teachers reflect on how a listening ear is conducive to creating an environment characterized by compassion, wisdom, and respect. And because the characters are relatable, their reflections are likely to impact students.

4. Introduces Gandhi

Dave's period of silence is inspired by his study of India and, specifically, Mahatma Gandhi. Though the reference only provides a brief introduction to Gandhi, it creates an opportunity for teachers to explore his significance to Indian (and world) history. See the "Supplementary Texts" section below for children's books on Gandhi!

5. Is Available in Spanish!

Copies for our Spanish-speaking students are available here.

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Concerns

1. Ungrammatical Use of "Because"

Though I'm hesitant to a text's grammar for fear of sounding pretentious, I think it is important to notice when children's texts make consistent grammatical errors. After all, these texts are the models to which students turn for inspiration in their own writing. In this text, the consistent grammatical error comes with the use of the word "because." Consider the following examples:

- "Because it wasn't a very nice thing to say." (10)

- "Because Dave really did love to talk." (11)

- "Because most of the time Dave was a loudmouth." (11)

- "Because Dave should have kept his mouth shut." (17)

These are just a few of the examples within the first 20 pages, but the pattern continues throughout the book. Why is this wrong? These are all dependent clauses! Dependent clauses cannot stand alone as sentences! I get that these fragments contribute to Clements' style of short and sassy diction, but they still provide a poor model for students. For more information on how to use "because" correctly (as a subordinating conjunction), check out these tips from MSU's Writing Center.

2. Racially Ambiguous

The need for multi-cultural literature is pressing and this text— at best— neglects its characters' cultural identities, appealing to the outdated notion of "colorblindness." Critical Race Theory argues that the omission of race in a text implicitly promotes "white" people as "more 'normal' or more important" (Grimes 389) At worst, the text leaves room to infer that its entire cast of protagonists are white. The names of all the characters (Dave, Linsey, Kyle, Christina) are associated with whiteness simply due to the fact that they are common American names (see Cotton, O' Neill, and Griffin for more on naming and whiteness). And the characters pictured on the cover and in the sparse in-text illustrations are all white. Does this make the book a "toss out"? This is up to you all. Is it justifiable to have a whitewashed or colorblind text or two so long as there are plentiful accurate representations of diversity in other classroom texts to supplement the few racially ambiguous or all-white ones?

Perhaps this book shouldn't be a spotlight text; perhaps we give it a place on our shelves but not a place on our "book of the month" bulletin boards. After all, there is plenty of representation of white protagonists in literature and in the media to bolster the confidence of our young white students. But for colored populations, this widespread representation (along with its self-esteem boosting powers) has not yet been realized. As teachers, parents, and advocates for kids, it is our job to confront this unfortunate reality by building classroom, home, and community libraries that celebrate the diversity of ALL children.

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Controversies

1. Does No Talking reinforce gender stereotypes or combat them?

Evidence of Reinforcing Stereotypes:

The bulk of chapter three in No Talking presents a stereotype-laden monologue by Linsey. This overly dramatic saga centers on how she dropped one of her friends over a sweater. When Dave interrupts her, complaining about the mindlessness of her story, Linsey says, "Ohhh— so boys can say things like, 'Hey, did you hear this guy got traded to that team, and that guy got traded to this team, and , hey, he hit real good last year, and, ooh yeah, he can really catch!' Boys can talk and talk like that, but girls can't talk about clothes sometimes?"(Clements 16). If the entirety of the chapter hadn't yet successfully reinforced the assumption that girls are fueled by shopping and a desire to look "pretty," this culminating statement by Linsey certainly finishes the job. Stereotyping becomes all the more blatant when Linsey contrasts this lipgloss-laden image of girls with the notion of sports-obsessed boys. Throughout the book this superficial characterization of girls and boys persists and fuels the divide between the female and male characters at Laketon Elementary.

Evidence of Combatting Stereotypes:

On the 100th page of the book, Clements finally calls attention to why stereotyping is harmful:

Mr. Burton thought, Women— always keeping little secrets. But he

immediately corrected that thought. Because anybody who hangs on to stereotypes about girls and boys... shouldn't. Especially if he's a teacher...

On a school faculty, it's never supposed to be girls against boys. In fact, that's

called discrimination, which is against the law (Clements 100-101)

Although this passage clarifies the book's stance on gender stereotyping (that it is wrong) it never manages to identify why those stereotypes are false. Linsey never realizes that boys can be interested in more than just sports and Dave never confronts the reality that girls' interests can extend beyond the latest fashion trends. The two do manage to become friends, but the implication is that they become friends despite their inherent differences, rather than because of their inherent equality— an equality that extends beyond the socially-constructed gender binary.

So What?

This book can either fuel students understanding of gender equality or it can reinforce gender stereotypes, leaving them with a "boy vs. girl" mentality. This is all up to the teacher! If we choose to blithely flip through No Talking with our students, failing to challenge the images of girly girls and boisterous boys, then OF COURSE the book will provide a reinforcement of those stereotypes! But if we are willing to put in the time to encourage students to read the text with an analytical eye and to challenge inaccurate assumptions, then OF COURSE they will emerge with strengthened abilities to recognize and challenge gender-related injustices in books and in life.

I chose the latter option. When Linsey suggested that boys are interested in sports and girls in shopping, I asked my students, "is that really what boys and girls are interested in?" And sure enough, I was met with bold responses. One student, Mia, exclaimed, "I'm a girl and I HATE shopping and LOVE sports." Another student, Leo stated that the ceaseless divide between the girl and boy characters in the book was "silly"; this spurred a conversation on how girls and boys are fully capable of sharing interests and getting along.

These conversations reassured me that students are capable of dissecting controversial content to uncover truths about human existence. Why keep students from reading "controversial texts" (in quotations, because controversy in this book is actually rather minimal) like No Talking— texts that bring them joy, make them laugh— when putting in a few extra minutes to explore difficult content is all it takes for them to emerge with strengthened analytical skills and social awareness?

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Supplementary Texts:

... for more information about the life and legacy of Gandhi:

1. Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi

2. Gandhi for Kids by Ellen Mahoney

... to address gender stereotyping:

1. Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating

2. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

3. Franny's Father is a Feminist by Rhonda Leet

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References

Clements, Andrew, and Mark Elliott. No Talking. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York, 2007.

Cotton, John L., Bonnie O'Neill S., and Andrea E.C. Griffin. "Whiteness of a Name: Is "White" the Baseline?" Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 29, no. 4, 2014, pp. 405- 422. ProQuest, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/docview/1536348885? accountid=39473, doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1108/JMP-03-2012-0086.

Grimes, Diane Susan. “Challenging the Status Quo?: Whiteness in the Diversity Management Literature.” Management Communication Quarterly, vol. 15, no. 3, Feb. 2002, pp. 381–409, doi:10.1177/0893318902153003.