Happy New Year, Readers! What better way to start a new year than with an OBOB book for this season! The second book by author Ramee but the first one I have read (the third one is coming this year!). A Good Kind of Trouble is the story of seventh grader Shayla, doing her best to navigate friends, family, school, and race. She has some successes but also her fair share of bumps along the way, as we all do (or did!). Ramee does a great job of creating Shayla's voice throughout the story, and the real intensity comes nearer the end of the book when Shayla's race and the Black Lives Matter movement finally face each other. It's well written and BLM is very well explained (to those of every race), and in fact this storyline is the best part of the book, I think.
Overall, Trouble is a good book, but not great. However, the Black Lives Matter aspect of the book is important - not only to read but also to put out in the conversations we have with each other. Ramee works this well into Shayla's character and the story, with a couple of "too easy" characters and situations worked in. But mostly, this is a solid book, and a good addition to this season's OBOB list! 3 paws and a wag!
No comments:
Post a Comment