Last week, I read A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée. This realistic fiction novel is about a twelve-year-old girl, Shayla, who does not like getting into trouble. Beginning junior high school as a seventh grade student brings about many changes in her life, though. She is partnered with a boy she is afraid of in science class, she joins the track team, she has difficulty maintaining her relationships with her best friends over a crush, and her sister Hana is becoming more involved in Black Lives Matter. After she goes to a protest with her family, Shayla decides to join the Black Lives Matter movement, following in her sister's footsteps. As the school year goes on, Shayla realizes that it is worth breaking the rules and getting into a bit of trouble to do the right thing.
I really liked reading this book because it was funny at times and I enjoyed Shayla's growth throughout the book. Shayla wasn't perfect, but I could really tell that she was trying her best to get through a challenging school year, especially with a trial moving forward after a police offer shot a Black man. It gave me perspective reading about the injustices that African Americans face through the eyes of a girl in junior high school and I noticed how the book had many similarities with The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, which I read last year. I also felt bad for Shayla because she was caught in a hard place. She wanted to keep her friends from elementary school, but at the same time, some of her new classmates thought that she wasn't black enough. I definitely cheered Shayla on when she began to wear an armband to school to support Black Lives Matter. Overall, I thought that Shayla was very relatable and appreciated that the book had a hopeful and optimistic ending. Anyone who wants to read a story about friendship, growing up, injustice, and the challenges of junior high would enjoy this satisfying novel.
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