The Loud Silence of Francine Green

It is 1949 in California. Francine Green just wants to make it through the year at the All Saints School for Girls without incurring the wrath of Sister Basil the Great. Then her neighbor, Sophie Bowman, transfers to her school. Sophie's everything Francine isn't-outspoken, confrontational, opinionated about everything from communism to prayer to the atomic bomb. When Sophie gets expelled from school and her screenwriter father is swept up in the Hollywood blacklisting scandal, Francine must decide whether to stand up for her friend. Author's note. Suggestions for further reading.