No Talking by Andrew Clements

Reviewed by Lucas Najera
Grade 5

So, who is going to lose first? Will it be the boys or the girls? Something strange is happening in the class, and the principal wants to know what.

No Talking by Andrew Clements is a fictional story about two kids in fifth grade at Lake Elementary. The characters are known for a name given to them by the teachers, the “un-hushables”. They just never stop talking. The principal would try to get them to be quiet by using a big bull horn in the cafeteria and say “QUIET!” But even that didn't work. In the story you will find out why they actually stopped talking all of a sudden. Yes, it was a miracle! No one could believe it.

I believe the author did a bad job by not having these children not get into trouble during the story. If children actually behaved the way the characters did in school they would definitely be in trouble. The children were disrespectful to the teachers and principal. In real life this would not be acceptable behavior. It truly sets a bad example for children who read this book. I would like to see more positive role models in books.

The competition is only a part of the book, but it is a major component to the story and where most of the disrespect was shown. Therefore, unfortunately I cannot recommend that other kids read this book. It just sets such a bad role model for the reader.