Although Lisa Moore Ramee’s middle grade novel was released a year ago in 2019, it’s extremely timely for the events happening now regarding protest marches, justice and equality. Shayla is one of the few African-American students in her California school. Her best friends, Julia and Isabelle, are Asian and Latinx. They’ve been friends since elementary school and like to call themselves ‘The United Nations.’ Seventh grade brings changes to Shayla’s world. Julia has been hanging out with another group of friends and her older sister wears a black armband to show her support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Shayla is just beginning to listen to the news and reports of the African-Americans being killed by the police. She is trying to understand why her sister feels so strongly about standing up for justice. But Shayla wants to be a ‘good girl’ and stay out of trouble. As the story evolves, Shayla is forced to decide how loud or silent she wants to be while still staying out of trouble- until trouble comes looking for her. “A Good Kind of Trouble’ is a great novel for grades 4/5 and up to read now and start a discussion. It recently appeared on a ‘Top 50 Books 6th Graders Should Read‘ list.
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