The heroine of the story is coming to terms with her own understanding of adulthood in a vile and destructive society. She had been brought up to distrust everyone and was trying to work out who she could have as a friend. Unfortunately she chooses the wrong person. The fear that everyone in Romania felt under the dictator Ceausescu is well shown in this book. It was a period when even a bar of chocolate was seen as a luxury. Children in the UK and in the US will find it hard to believe much of the story because it is so difficult to imagine not having videos and good music and burgers and milkshakes. Remember the orphans of Romania. Their lives were literally horrific. It was better for the children at home with their parents but not that much better. A good book with a slightly unexpected ending. I wonder did they live happily ever after?

I never liked to read until I read this book. I couldn't put the book down for one second! This book takes place in Romania in 1989.Romania is under ditatorship.
It seems that no one under stands Flora, her best friend is giving her the cold shoulder and her parents are keeping something from her. It seems that the only one who understands her is Danile Gibons, but something seems odd about him.He gets luxuries that other kids don't have such as chocolate,meat,and other goods.
I would recomend this book to any sixth, seventh, and eighth grader who loves historical fiction.I hope you will like this book as much I did.

I'm a person who reads very much. Out of all of the books I have read in the past, this, The voices of Silence has been the most interesting book I have ever read. I particularly love the books that get me caught by surprise and give me a real feeling of what they are experiencing. i actually felt myself as this girl, this lonely girl trapped between the controlling ruling of an inconsiderate...ruler, Ceausescu, and the ever desirable dream of freedom, food, and luxury. There are many parts of this book that were very interesting to me, yet very real. There were parts in this book that also made me realize what kind of life I have lead, and what advantages that some people do not have at all. Chocolate, oranges, and basically just the normal things that we could have at an everyday basis, were things that were not available for people in Romania, like this girl named Flora Popescu. This took place at the time where communism was still at hand in Romania and it was very very difficult to leave the country even if you were just going on vacation. This book is very significant because it shows a sense of true dignity and self assurance. It shows how a person can really be very strong and yet still have their weaknesses. This 13 year old girl, Flora, never knew what freedom or living in luxury was like because ever since she was a small girl, she only knew the life of that under communsim. Despite all of the great things that this book has shown me, it has also put an extremely strong sense of confidence in myself and my country. At times, it may seem as if i do not agree with what our country has to offer, but after reading this book, I'm very glad to have pride in our president and successful country. The plot behind this made the rather short book turn into this book with great meaning. Not only did the characters in this book show silence through all the communism and hate, they also made it positive and clear that this silence they experienced had a very strong meaning. The people of Romania, in the end were almost granted their freedom, but at least they didn't have to face their horrible ruler Ceausescu any longer. What made this book seem so real, was how all of the little symbolic things were mentioned throughout the book. The characters in this book had a very great sense of character, the plot was well written and planned, and the significance behind the story showed very clearly....Silence With a Strong Meaning.

Bel Mooney has managed to get to the heart of the problem that foreigners have of understanding the pain and anguish that people felt in the darkest days of Communist Romania. A mother sent her child away in order to save him. She wasn't looking for material improvement in his condition though that was sorely needed but she wanted him out of a morally corrupt system that was likely to engulf him as he grew up. Her novel sees the child travel across Europe. Eventually after the fall of "the shoemaker" she is able to leave Romania and after much heartache traces him to Paris. The novel ends with her return to Romania in optimistic mood. I wonder whether that optimism was well-founded!