Spaghetti Book Club - Book Reviews by Kids for Kids

This book is about a 5th class that talks too much. All the teachers call them “The Unshushables”. One day, Dave got inspired by Gandhi not talking, so he tried it for a day. Later at lunch, Dave heard Lyndsey going on about a sweater and he yelled at her, “If you had to shut up for five minutes I bet the whole top of your head would explode”.

Then they decided that they would have a competition, boys vs. girls, to see who could talk less for two whole days. They could say three words at a time at school and couldn’t talk at all at home. In math class, Mrs. Marlow asked, “So, Amy, Did you do your math homework last night?” and she said, “Yes, I did”. Then Mrs. Marlow said “How’d you like it?” Amy said, “It was hard”. Some teachers liked it and some teachers didn’t. Mr. Burton, the science teacher, liked it because he was going to write about it for a class he was taking. The gym teacher, Mrs. Henley, liked it because she did not have to yell. Mrs. Overby did not like it because the whole time Dave was supposed to give his report he coughed. At home, Dave’s mom started yelling at him to answer her so then he had to write her a note saying, “Sorry. It’s a thing we are doing at school. Not talking for a couple of days. That’s all.” Read the book to find out who wins.

I really liked this book because it keeps you wondering about what is going to happen next. I like books like that. You just have to keep on reading to find out who wins. When Andrew Clements writes he says things like, “Now, I will tell you about what happened after lunch with the teachers.” I like when he does that because it sounds like he is actually talking to me. Dave learned that being quiet helped him think more. I learned that for one day each week Gandhi did not speak at all. I think that that would be really hard.

I think other kids should read this book because it’s funny and there is suspense and competition. I think people eight and older should read this book.