A Good Kind of Trouble

By: Lisa Moore Ramée

Narrated by: Imani Parks

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

From debut author Lisa Moore Ramée comes this funny and big-hearted debut middle grade novel about friendship, family, and standing up for what’s right, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give and the novels of Renée Watson and Jason Reynolds.

Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)

But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what?

Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum.

Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.

"Tensions are high over the trial of a police officer who shot an unarmed Black man. When the officer is set free, and Shay goes with her family to a silent protest, she starts to see that some trouble is worth making." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")

©2019 Lisa Moore Ramée (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Book belongs in every middle school library!

I loved the way the author intertwined several themes - friendship, growing up and values in the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement. The narrator herself sounded like she was the age of the main character which made listening to the book all the more believable. I’m an adult and I thoroughly enjoyed the book!

Awesome and Real

I couldn’t stop listening to the book. For kids it made such a strong effort to consider the intersectionality if identity and how that impacts relationships. I can’t wait to read this with my students.

A good kind of trouble

Whatever bad reviews are on here are totally wrong Read this amazing book!! It’s great!

I think it is always a lesson for kids to understand going from 7th to 8th grade is going into to be hard than you think.

What I like from the book was how Shayla was wearing armed bands to school to support Black Lives Matter she also learned about friendships can be hard and also talking a lot about boys will cause some problems.

Hours of how to attract a boy

It's too hard to listen to this book long enough to get to a good part. You'll have to sit through hours of boring middle school strife, mainly revolving around how to get the attention of a boy.

Amazing

Very relatable, and loved how she looked up to her big sister and followed in her footsteps.👏🏽❤️

Good discussion start

I liked this book because it gave me a good opportunity to discuss some issues my daughter will encounter

Amazing

Initially I thought Shayla was to laid back and let people walk all over her. I felt Ike she muted her voice so others could be heard. In the end Shayla definitely grew into the young lady we all knew she could be! Amazing read

Middle School Anxiety is Real

The narration is so good that I thought it could have been an actual middle schooler’s voice! The story made me relive some of the darkest moments in our recent history causing me to tear up. The writing is so good that I was able to “see” Shayla’s world. A must read for middle school students, their parents and their teachers.

A must for GIRL MOMS

My 11 yo daughter and I have a long commute to her school, so to fill that time we listen to audiobooks.

Although we have the hard copy we never got around to reading it (bad mom), so we listened to the audiobook. It was GREAT!

The story kept us listening... I mean every day we looked forward to the ride to and from school. And the story provided us opportunities to talk about issues that my middle is currently facing or will be in the near future.

Definitely get this book/audiobook.