The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.

Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).

From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

The fifth graders at Laketon Elementary School have taken a vow of silence. It started as an experiment for Dave Packer, who was inspired by Ghandi to go a day without speaking. But when Dave explodes at classmate Lynsey Burgess during lunch period, his personal challenge becomes an all-out competition between the boys and the girl: no talking for forty-eight hours. The two sides agree on some carefully considered rules: at home and at school, they will respond to any question from an adult, but their answers must be three words or less. It may seem a teacher’s dream to have a class of silent and attentive students, especially these students, who are known as the “unshushables.” But the teachers and principal aren’t sure what to make of the strange turn of events. Gradually they figure out what’s going on, and their responses range from annoyed to intrigued to ecstatic. It is the responses of adults as much as the actions of the kids that turns the very funny premise of Andrew Clements’ novel into a story that is thought-provoking, too. When the principal challenges the students on their right to remain silent, it brings an unspoken but heartfelt truce to the battle of the sexes. Clements story makes a terrific classroom read-aloud—one that just might inspire the sound of silence. (Ages 8–11)

CCBC Choices 2008 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2008. Used with permission.

From Booklist

September 15, 2007
Ah, silencethe pipe dream of the frazzled educator. In Clements latest novel, however, a group of fifth graders turnsilence to their own subversive ends, yielding a comic yet thoughtful classroom drama in a mode the popular author has made his own. Inspired by Gandhis daylong rituals of silence, Dave devises acontest todetermine whether girls or boyscan keep their traps shut the longest.As the diversion builds to something moresignificant, the kids creative adaptations, such asthe condensed haiku of their spoken interactions with grown-ups, forma big part of the story. Equally prominentarethe responses of teachers, who strugglein different ways with the controlling principals mandate to discipline thezip-lipped miscreants. Clements tosses out more issues thanthe brief, fablelike storycan fully absorb, with kids experience of silence as exciting, even dangerous, coming across the least clearly. But the school dynamicsare spot-on, and theparadoxical notion of opening up ones experience of the world by imposing constraints upon it will intriguereaders of any age. Illustrations not seen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

From School Library Journal

Starred review from September 1, 2007
Gr 3-6-Dave Packer's fifth-grade classmates are so boisterous and difficult to quiet down that the teachers have dubbed them "The Unshushables." Dave has just read about Mahatma Gandhi and learned that the man practiced silence one day a week to bring order to his mind. Though Dave likes to talk nonstop, he's determined to give the idea a try. An encounter with Lynsey, another chatterbox, sparks the boys and girls into challenging each other to a no-talking contest for 48 hours. They can answer direct questions from adults with three-word sentences but must otherwise remain silent. The teachers are bewildered at the extreme change in the kids until several of them figure out what's going on. Principal Hiatt demands that the quiet students return to their normal behavior. When the children continue with their silent ways, Dave finds himself at the center of the controversy. This is an interesting and thought-provoking book, similar to Clements's "Frindle" (S & S, 1996). The plot quickly draws readers in and keeps them turning pages. The author includes the viewpoints of both the students and the teachers, and the black-and-white pencil drawings add immediacy to the story. This lively offering would make a great book-group selection or classroom discussion starter."Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Publisher's Weekly

May 7, 2007
C
lements's (Lunch Money
) latest thoughtful school tale opens as fifth-grader Dave researches a report on India. He is fascinated to learn that for years Mahatma Gandhi did not speak at all one day each week to “bring order to his mind.” Dave, an inveterate blabber, tries to keep silent for a day at school, a plan that derails when he cannot contain his outrage at his classmate Lynsey's superficial, nonstop monologue at lunch (“She knew
I wanted that sweater more than anything, and she bought it anyway. And then? After school on Friday at soccer practice? She smiled
at me, like she wanted to be friends or something—as if
!”). After she erupts at his complaint, the pair enlists their entire grade in an experiment to determine which gender can utter fewer words during a two-day period. The rules allow students to answer teachers' questions with a three-word-only response, but they are prohibited from speaking after school is dismissed. Enhancing the challenge is the fact that the fifth grade has a reputation for being particularly loquacious, prompting the teachers to dub them “The Unshushables.” The contest plays out at an occasionally plodding pace, as Clements dwells on the teachers' musings about the competition as they find ways for the kids to learn and communicate nonverbally. Despite the rivalry that started the contest, the longstanding animosity between the boys and girls dissipates as the students bond over the experiment. Presuming the novel doesn't generate similar contests in real life, readers may be compelled to use their voices to praise Clement's deft handling of an interesting premise. Ages 8-12.

From AudioFile Magazine

Clements, a former teacher, writes engaging stories set in public schools. In NO TALKING, Lynsey and Dave debate whether girls or boys are noisier, declaring a two-day war of silence in which the words of those who speak are counted against them. Narrator Keith Nobbs, whose voice is appropriately youthful, reproduces fifth-grade tones with uncanny accuracy. This tonal precision has a downside: warring fifth-graders are not that much fun to hear. Fortunately, Nobbs also delivers long stretches of narration in which listeners learn about the kids' boisterous fifth-grade class (nicknamed the "unshushables"), grade school dynamics, and the reaction of the principal to the students' sudden silent behavior. Finally, when all's counted, a mere handful of words brings peace and harmony to all. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine