No Talking

Last updated
No Talking
No talking cover.jpg
Author Andrew Clements
Audio read byKeith Nobbs
IllustratorMark Elliott
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's literature
Publisher Simon & Schuster [1]
Publication date
June 26, 2007 [2]
(Hardcover 1st ed.)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback); ebook
Pages160 [2]
ISBN 978-1-4169-0983-5
(Hardcover 1st ed)
OCLC 76261556
LC Class PZ7.C59118 No 2007

No Talking is a children's novel written by Andrew Clements and later published in 2007 by Simon & Schuster. The novel also has an Audiobook available, narrated by Keith Nobbs.

Contents

Plot

No Talking centers around a group of exuberant fifth grade boys and girls at the fictional Laketon Elementary School who engage in a no-talking contest. The competition proves to be more challenging than either team anticipated, as they struggle to remain silent while going about their daily routines.

The characters Lynsey and Dave are chosen as the team captains. They agree to a set of rules, where both teams are allowed to speak three words when questioned by teachers. As the competition intensifies, the students discover creative ways to make noises without speaking, leading to many situations and twists.

The contest goes on for days, and the fifth grade hall becomes very silent during lunch, leaving the principal in disbelief. She even decides to join the competition herself. As the story unfolds, the students learn valuable lessons about communication, cooperation, and self-control, ultimately coming to a fitting resolution.

Themes

The novel explores several themes. One is the practice of silence, inspired by Gandhi idea of taking a vow of silence for at least one day a week. Various benefits of silence are depicted such as self-reflection, improved communication skills, and increased understanding of others.

Another significant theme in the novel is the accommodation made by the school for a particularly noisy and talkative group of fifth grade students. The story raises questions about how schools might accommodate students' diverse learning styles and behaviors while maintaining a productive learning environment.

Another key theme in the novel is about gender dynamics in elementary school. The boys and girls are portrayed as equal in their abilities and intelligence, but different in their approach to communication and social interactions. The novel challenges traditional gender roles and stereotypes, encouraging readers to think critically about gender dynamics in society.

The novel explores the concept of civil disobedience when the students' right to remain silent is challenged by the school's teachers. The students use creative and peaceful means to protest against the school's rules and regulations, demonstrating the power of nonviolent resistance and the importance of standing up for one's beliefs.

Awards

The book won the 2010 California Young Reader Medal. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Frindle</i> 1996 novel by Andrew Clements

Frindle is a middle-grade American children's novel written by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Brian Selznick, and published by Aladdin Paperbacks in 1996. It was the winner of the 2016 Phoenix Award, which is granted by the Children's Literature Association annually to recognize one English-language children's book published twenty years earlier that did not win a major literary award at the time of publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Clements</span> American writer (1949–2019)

Andrew Elborn Clements was an American author of children's literature. His debut novel Frindle won an award determined by the vote of U.S. schoolchildren in about 20 different U.S. states. In June 2015, Frindle was named the Phoenix Award winner for 2016, as it was the best book that did not win a major award when it was published.

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. Since 1911, NCTE has provided a forum for the profession, an array of opportunities for teachers to continue their professional growth throughout their careers, and a framework for cooperation to deal with issues that affect the teaching of English." In addition, the NCTE describes its mission as follows:

The Council promotes the development of literacy, the use of language to construct personal and public worlds and to achieve full participation in society, through the learning and teaching of English and the related arts and sciences of language.

Accelerated Reader (AR) is an educational program created by Renaissance Learning. It is designed to monitor and manage students' independent reading practice and comprehension in both English and Spanish. The program assesses students' performance through quizzes and tests based on the books they have read. As the students read and take quizzes, they are awarded points. AR monitors students' progress and establishes personalised reading goals according to their reading levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deb Caletti</span> American writer

Deb Caletti is an American writer of young adult and adult fiction. Caletti is a National Book Award finalist, and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book medalist, as well as the recipient of other numerous awards including the PEN USA finalist award, the Josette Frank Award for Fiction, the Washington State Book Award, and SLJ Best Book award. Caletti's books feature the Pacific Northwest, and her young adult work is popular for tackling difficult issues typically reserved for adult fiction. Her first adult fiction novel, He's Gone, was published by Random House in 2013, and was followed by several other books for adults, in addition to her many books for teens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tewksbury Memorial High School</span> Public school in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, United States

Tewksbury Memorial High School is a suburban public high school located at 320 Pleasant Street in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, United States. Serving grades 9–12, it is the only public high school in the town. Its total enrollment for the 2018–2019 school year was 916 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute</span> Public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Steeles neighbourhood of the former suburb of Scarborough. It was founded in 1979 and named after Norman Bethune, a Canadian doctor and communist who served under the Eighth Route Army. The school is attended by over 1000 students, most of whom speak a primary language other than English, the language of instruction. Bethune is also partners with the neighbouring senior's homes: Mon Sheong and Tendercare, and with Beijing#15 High School in Beijing, People's Republic of China.

A literature circle is equivalent for young people of an adult book club, but with greater structure, expectation and rigor. The aim is to encourage thoughtful discussion and a love of reading in young people. The intent of literature circles is "to allow students to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avery Coonley School</span> School in Downers Grove, Illinois, United States

The Avery Coonley School (ACS), commonly called Avery Coonley, is an independent, coeducational day school serving academically gifted students in preschool through eighth grade (approximately ages 3 to 14), and is located in Downers Grove, DuPage County, Illinois. The school was founded in 1906 to promote the progressive educational theories developed by John Dewey and other turn-of-the-20th-century philosophers, and was a nationally recognized model for progressive education well into the 1940s. From 1943 to 1965, Avery Coonley was part of the National College of Education (now National Louis University), serving as a living laboratory for teacher training and educational research. In the 1960s, ACS became a regional research center and a leadership hub for independent schools, and began to focus on the education of the gifted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maharishi School (US)</span> Private secondary school in Fairfield, Iowa, United States

Maharishi School is an independent, non-denominational, college preparatory school located in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. The school was founded in 1974, received state accreditation in 1986 and began single-gender classes in 1989. It is located on a 10-acre campus within the main campus of the Maharishi University of Management.

<i>Private</i> (novel series)

Private is a series of young-adult novels by American author Kate Brian, beginning with 2006's entry of the same name. The books chronicle the rise of ambitious teenager Reed Brennan, the series' narrator, as she becomes a member of her new school's elite dorm—composed of a glamorous yet disparate group of teens known as the Billings Girls. As the series progresses, several matters surrounding mystery, morality, and romance arise.

Hanalani Schools is a private Christian school founded in 1952 and located in Mililani, on the island of Oahu, that offers classes for students in preschool through high school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acera School</span> Independent school in Winchester, Massachusetts, United States

The Acera School is an independent, nonprofit, co-educational day school in Winchester, Massachusetts, United States, serving gifted students across Greater Boston in grades K–8 with the option for a bonus Grade 9. Acera's approach to gifted education is centered around engaging students in meaningful learning given each students’ unique capacities, needs, and passions. Its teachers emphasize the development of core capacities such as systems thinking, critical thinking and problem solving, creativity, ethical decision making, perspective taking, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and leadership.

Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) was developed in 1993 by Dr. John T. Guthrie with a team of elementary teachers and graduate students. The project designed and implemented a framework of conceptually oriented reading instruction to improve students' amount and breadth of reading, intrinsic motivations for reading, and strategies of search and comprehension. The framework emphasized five phases of reading instruction in a content domain: observing and personalizing, searching and retrieving, comprehending and integrating, communicating to others, and interacting with peers to construct meaning. CORI instruction was contrasted to experience-based teaching and strategy instruction in terms of its support for motivational and cognitive development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International School at Dundee</span> Public, magnet, ib school

The International School at Dundee is a magnet elementary school in Riverside, Connecticut, United States. The school belongs to the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 366 students. It also participates in the International Baccalaureate program, and was the first school in Connecticut to be IB authorized. In 2012 it was one of five Greenwich public schools to be in Connecticut's list of top-performing schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheongna Dalton School</span> Foreign school in Seo-gu, Incheon, South Korea

Cheongna Dalton School (CDS) is a secular international private college preparatory school situated in Cheongna, Incheon, South Korea, offering an American curriculum following the Dalton Plan in an English-only setting.

<i>Out of My Mind</i> (novel) 2010 novel by Sharon Draper

Out of My Mind is a 2010 novel by Sharon M. Draper, a New York Times bestselling author. The cover illustration of the fifth edition is by Daniel Chang, and the cover photography is by Cyril Bruneau/Jupiter Images. A reading group guide is enclosed. The book is recommended for ages 10-14 and for grades 5–8. The story was written in first person, featuring Melody Brooks, a girl with cerebral palsy.

<i>Melissa</i> (novel) 2015 book by Alex Gino

Melissa, previously published as George until April 2022, is a children's novel about a young transgender girl written by American author Alex Gino. The novel tells the story of Melissa, a fourth-grade girl who is struggling to be herself to the rest of the world. The rest of the world sees Melissa as George, a boy. Melissa uses the class play, Charlotte's Web, to show her mom that she is a girl by switching roles with her best friend, and playing the part of Charlotte. Scholastic first published the novel on August 25, 2015, and it has had a mixed reaction because of its LGBT+ content. In 2021, Gino retitled the novel Melissa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multimodal pedagogy</span> Teaching approach with different modes

Multimodal pedagogy is an approach to the teaching of writing that implements different modes of communication. Multimodality refers to the use of visual, aural, linguistic, spatial, and gestural modes in differing pieces of media, each necessary to properly convey the information it presents.

References

  1. No Talking. Simon & Schuster. 26 June 2007. ISBN   9781416909835 . Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  2. 1 2 Clements, Andrew (26 June 2007). No Talking. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1416909835.
  3. "California Young Reader Medal Nominees and Winners List". CYRM (at google.docs). Retrieved 2015-05-18.