No Talking

Chapter 2 begins chronologically before Chapter 1, when Dave and Lynsey are assigned to work together on a report on India. Dave and Lynsey don’t get along, so they split up the work and study separately. Dave, a good student, finds two books on India in the library and learns that the country’s most famous freedom fighter, Mahatma Gandhi, used words and ideas, not weapons, to liberate India from British rule. Gandhi also practiced complete silence one day each week as a “way to bring order to his mind” (8).

Inspired, Dave decides to remain silent all day on Monday. He quickly learns how to nod and smile when others talk, and he manages to get through the entire morning without talking. Soon, it’s time for lunch period. 

The normally talkative Dave gets partway through lunch without saying a word. He hears Lynsey at the next table, loudly talking about minor drama with a friend over a sweater. She goes on and on, annoying Dave, who finally erupts, saying, “If you had to shut up for five minutes, I bet the whole top of your head would explode!” (15)

Dave realizes he’s broken his vow of silence. He also guesses that Gandhi wouldn’t speak so curtly to another person. Lynsey asks Dave sarcastically if his cough is better, and she notes that his voice is “whiny.” Dave insults her for being chatty again, and Lynsey retorts that Dave has no trouble “blabbing” either. Her friends nod in agreement. Dave says talking is fine if it’s about something worthwhile. Lynsey asks why boys can talk at length about sports but girls can’t talk about clothes. Dave says boys never talk as much as girls. 

Chapter 4 describes the history of the Laketon Elementary School fifth grade class: The kids enter school in kindergarten and grow up together as they advance through grades. In fifth grade, the boys still believe that the girls have cooties, and vice versa, even though most children have outgrown such gender biases by their age. When Dave says girls talk more than boys, Lynsey believes all girls everywhere have been insulted. She plans a way to get even. 

Lynsey demands that Dave take back his insult about girls talking too much. Dave replies that it’s true—and he can prove it. He proposes a contest between the fifth-grade boys and girls: No talking for an entire school day, and whichever side speaks fewer words is the winner. The kids can respond if an adult asks a question, but with no more than three words; any extra words count as points against their team. Lynsey asks if contractions count as one or two words. Dave is surprised and impressed by her question, and he suggests that, if the contraction is in the dictionary, it counts as one word. Lynsey is also impressed but still thinks Dave is “annoying.” 

Lynsey consults with her friends, then says the contest should last two days, including at home, and scoring will be on the honor system. The contest will begin the next day at noon and end it at 12:15pm two days later. Dave and Lynsey will keep score for their teams. Lynsey holds out her hand to shake on it. Dave makes a face and Lynsey agrees that shaking hands is “revolting,” but she insists that they have to do it. They shake, and Dave makes a show of wiping his hand on his pants.