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This month The Edge of the Forest reviews new Middle Grade fiction
intended for the 10-to 14-year-old audience. One novel is a piece of historical fiction, The Loud Silence of Francine
Green, and the other contemporary, Donutheart, but both works focus on what it's like to be making your own
decisions for the very first time.
Donutheart
by Sue Stauffacher
Reviewed by Ilene S. Goldman, Book Buds
Franklin Delano Donuthead faces the personal and public challenges of middle school with humor and guts, bolstered by his
exhaustive knowledge of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speeches and flanked by his buddies Sarah Kervick and Bernie Lepner.
He is particularly unnerved by the school bully Martin Howell and by Glynnis Powell, “a young woman of fine character whose
attentions [he] hoped someday to enjoy.”(11) Sarah plots to help him overcome his fear of the boys’ bathroom (a fear
instigated by Martin) and Bernie, his absentminded, brilliant younger neighbor who has skipped fifth grade, gives him the
courage to help Sarah. Franklin also relies on Gloria Nelots of the National Safety Department in Washington, D.C., whom he
regularly consults by telephone. Part lesson in growing up, part hero’s quest, Donutheart’s spirited story is at once
witty and poignant.
Franklin, a self-described sensitive and asymmetrical boy (he measures his limbs nightly to record his uneven growth!), faces
the biggest challenge of his life when Sarah’s problems threaten to shatter her world. Sarah literally disappears
overnight. She can’t tell her friends what has happened because she doesn’t have a telephone. Franklin discovers that she
has left behind one of her precious ice skates and her dogs. With the help of Gloria Nelots and Mr. Herman, the school
janitor, Franklin learns that Sarah’s father has been hauled off to jail and she has been placed with an aunt on the bad
side of a big city. He opens his heart to take in one of her dogs though he worries about dirt and allergens. He then
conquers his own fears to deliver her ice skate to her. Gloria shows up and helps Franklin sweep Sarah back to safety.
He grows—quite symmetrically—in ways that surprise him. When Gloria asks him to help with some research on boys
and video games, Franklin breaks down: “Everything’s changing, Gloria. I keep forgetting to measure my arms and legs....”
Gloria tells him that he is the one changing. “It’s called 'growing up,' Franklin. You are beginning to notice that other
people have needs wholly unconnected to your health; important things happen to them that have nothing to do with you. You
are beginning to recognize that they have feelings.”(91-92)
Franklin debuted in Donuthead (Knopf, 2003) where he met the motherless, rude, obnoxious Sarah and learned to
appreciate her hidden qualities and to understand that she has serious struggles to face. In Donutheart, Franklin
continues to grow. His obsessions with health and safety and his quirky self-focus belie a true gift for understanding his
friend and his mother. He stands on the brink of puberty and does not fall off. Instead, he discovers that even the kid who
has to think too hard to survive the lunchroom can be the hero when he puts his friends’ troubles first. As Franklin
forgets his own asymmetrical problems and focuses on putting Sarah’s world back together, the reader cheers, swept up in the
page-turning action. He makes it through 6th grade unscathed. He’s kind and nervous and brave and smart. And, he does turn
Glynnis Powell’s head.
This reader cannot wait to see Franklin navigate 7th grade.
The Loud Silence of Francine Green
by Karen Cushman
Reviewed by Cynthia J. Omololu
I have a confession to make. I’ve never finished a Harry Potter book. Not one. I’ve tried on several occasions, but
somewhere around page 72 my interest always starts to wander. I can appreciate the great writing and inventive plots, but
the sad fact is that I just don’t like fantasy.
My extreme case of fantasyitis makes me so glad there are other flavors to choose from. Give me contemporary, mystery, or
historical fiction any day and I’m a happy camper. I figure I can’t be the only one, because publishers continue to offer
great books in these genres, like the historical fiction mid-grade The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen
Cushman.
Francine Green is thirteen years old in 1949. Living in Los Angeles, she is surrounded by the movie business and, as a
typical teenager, has a mad crush on her favorite movie star, Montgomery Clift. She would love to be a movie star and be
confident and speak her mind. Instead, she is the “good girl,” quiet and ready to take her father’s advice to “just stay
out of it.” Into this mix comes the new girl, Sophie Bowman, who is everything Francine is not. Not content to merely
question authority at their all-girl Catholic School, Sophie demands answers and shakes the Sisters to their very
foundations. She is also Francine’s new very best friend.
Together, they find adventure in Hollywood, make eye contact with Monty Clift, and learn about the dark side of the movies
in the time of Senator McCarthy. Sophie’s father writes for films and is caught up in the anticommunist witch-hunt that
pervaded the industry at the time. Small acts of rebellion are triumphant as Francine begins to emerge from her shell as
Sophie asks her, “Isn’t it time you spoke up and took sides?” The scenes inside the Catholic School resonate both for
their humor and the strict rules that are absurd when viewed from a distance of over fifty years. The end is wrapped up
nicely from Francine’s point of view, but we are left wondering about Sophie’s fate.
There are no dragons, wizards or swordplay in Francine Green, but for readers who enjoy immersing themselves in a
certain time and place, the result can be magic.
Donutheart, by Sue Stauffacher. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2006. ISBN: 0-3758-3275-0.
The Loud Silence of Francine , by Karen Cushman. Clarion Books, 2006. ISBN: 0-6185-0445-8.
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