85 pages • 2 hours read
Lisa Moore RaméeA Good Kind of Trouble
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-10
Reading Check
1. Who does Mr. Levy assign to Shayla as a lab partner, much to her dismay?
2. Why is Shayla afraid of playing the game “Command” in Chapter 5?
3. Which of Shayla’s classmates attempts to flirt with her in shop class in Chapter 6?
4. Why does Hana wear a black armband in Chapter 8?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Shala refer to her friend group as “the United Nations” in Chapter 2?
2. What is Shayla’s relationship with Yolanda, her PE partner in Chapter 3?
3. In Chapter 4, why does Shayla feel uncomfortable when Ms. Jacobs expresses surprise that Shayla didn’t mention that Ralph Waldo Emerson was an abolitionist?
Paired Resource
“Lisa Moore Ramée A Good Kind of Trouble”
- In this brief video on the author’s YouTube channel, Ramée answers the number one question she gets: Why did you write A Good Kind of Trouble?
- Ramée explains that among the many reasons she wrote A Good Kind of Trouble was the fact that she wanted to write stories for Black girls. Due to The Pervasiveness of Racial Bias, there was a shortage of books with Black characters while she was growing up.
- What are the other key reasons Ramée wrote A Good Kind of Trouble? How do these reasons manifest in the story itself?
CHAPTERS 11-26
Reading Check
1. In Chapter 12, which of the United Nations members does Julia think will be the one to get a boyfriend first?
2. Why has Shayla always been terrified of certain team sports, especially ones that involve a ball?
3. In Chapter 20, Jace compliments Shayla on what article of clothing?
4. What does Shaya decide to be for Halloween, as described in Chapter 23?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Does Shayla think that Ralph Waldo Emerson would have supported the Black Lives Matter movement? Why or why not?
2. What does Momma think about the metaphor that Black people are like broken bones, as discussed in Chapter 14?
3. Why does Shayla refuse the black armband that Hana offers her in Chapter 15?
Paired Resource
“Texas Teen Talks About First Encounter With Racial Bias and Injustice as a Child”
- Texas high schooler Justin Sybron tells PBS about his first experience with racial injustice.
- Like Shayla, Justin describes an incident where he was singled out by one of his teachers for being Black, a clear example of how Authority Can Be Flawed, especially when that authority is upholding systems with entrenched Racial Bias.
- How else do Shayla and Justin have similar experiences? How do you think Hana would advise Justin to act and respond to his treatment?
CHAPTERS 27-45
Reading Check
1. What embarrassing event happens to Shayla at the preseason track meet in Chapter 29?
2. In what place does Shayla finish in the 400 race?
3. What does Shayla want for Christmas, as she writes in her journal in Chapter 37?
4. In Chapter 39, Hana invites Shayla to a rally at what local university?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. In Chapter 28, why does Shayla look forward to track practice?
2. What happens in Chapter 29 that reveals how Bernard’s relationship to Shayla may be evolving?
3. In Chapter 33, what does Shayla realize about how Bernard feels about her? What makes her come to this realization?
Paired Resource
“WATCH: Young People Respond to Racism in America”
- Filmed in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, this PBS video interviews a series of teens regarding their feeling about racism in America.
- Most of the teens recognize that Racial Bias is woven into the fabric of American life.
- How do you think Shayla would respond to the kids in the video? Would she see them as being involved in “trouble”?
CHAPTERS 46-60
Reading Check
1. What distressing news causes Hana to cry in Chapter 49?
2. Where does the protest that Hana attends in Chapter 50 take place?
3. In English class, Shayla requests that they read what book instead of To Kill a Mockingbird?
4. Why does Shayla admonish Julia when she asks for armbands in Chapter 58?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Angie react to Shayla saying the phrase “you all” in Chapter 46?
2. What piece of clothing does Shayla begin donning in Chapter 52? Why is her choice to wear this item significant?
3. In this section, what is an example of how Shayla’s desire for change begins to overpower her fear of authority?
Paired Resource
“Black Lives Matter Protests Around the World”
- This video by Great Big Story showcases how people of all backgrounds, ages, and races came together for Black Lives Matter protests around the world.
- Individuals from a variety of backgrounds teamed up together in 2020 to fight Racial Bias.
- How might Shayla have reacted to this video at the start of the novel? How would she react to it now?
CHAPTERS 61-71
Reading Check
1. What kind of oil does Momma use to detangle Shayla’s hair?
2. In Chapter 63, Principal Trask threatens what punishment for Shayla if she wears her armband to school the next day?
3. What Maya Angelou poem does Ms. Jacobs have students read in Chapter 64?
4. Why is Carmetta unable to participate in the relay race in Chapter 67?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Shayla is afflicted by itchy hands in Chapters 61 and 62. What is the larger meaning behind her itchiness?
2. What is meant by Hana’s advice to Shayla to “go down big” in Chapter 64?
3. How do Julia and Shayla end up resolving their conflict?
Recommended Next Reads
Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro
- Set in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, this YA novel tells the story of a young boy from Oakland named Moss, who falls in love amidst the growing racial turmoil in America.
- Moss’s experiences in the book are shaped by The Pervasiveness of Racial Bias that affect the systems around him, from his school’s administration to the police force that patrols his city.
- Like Shayla, when Moss finds himself, he is able to begin to channel his emotions into social activism.
- Anger Is a Gift on SuperSummary
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
- In this YA novel set in modern-day Oregon, Jade joins a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls as she attempts to find a way out of her impoverished neighborhood in order to succeed.
- When Jade’s mentor is not all that she seems, Jade comes to the painful realization that Authority Can Be Flawed. What’s more, Jade encounters numerous troubling and traumatic experiences throughout the book due to Racial Bias.
- Before finding her voice, like Shayla, Jade first must come to embrace her Black identity.
- Piecing Me Together on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-10
Reading Check
1. Bernard (Chapter 1)
2. Because she is afraid of getting in trouble (Chapter 5)
3. Tyler (Chapter 6)
4. To show her support against racist police brutality (Chapter 8)
Short Answer
1. They each come from racially diverse backgrounds. Shayla is Black, Isabella is Puerto Rican, and Julia is Japanese American. (Chapter 2)
2. Yolanda is Shayla’s first Black friend, and Shayla doesn’t always know how to act around her. She often makes observations about Yolanda in her “eyeball journal” for English class. (Chapter 3)
3. Shayla feels that Ms. Jacobs is singling her out because of her race. Shayla feels that everyone in the class is now examining her as if she were a “whole different species.” (Chapter 4)
CHAPTERS 11-26
Reading Check
1. Isabella (Chapter 12)
2. She’s terrified of having a ball hit her in the face. (Chapter 13)
3. Her top, which she borrowed from Isabella (Chapter 20)
4. A Black Panther (Chapter 23)
Short Answer
1. Shayla thinks that, yes, Emerson would have supported the movement. That is because he was an individualist thinker who encouraged people to challenge popular beliefs. (Chapter 11)
2. Momma says that this metaphor does not mean that Black people are broken. It only means that Black people need extra attention to heal, just as broken bones do. (Chapter 14)
3. Shayla declines because she thinks it could make people angry with her. She also worries that it will make people think that she’s trying to start trouble. (Chapter 15)
CHAPTERS 27-45
Reading Check
1. She trips over a hurdle. (Chapter 29)
2. Fourth place (Chapter 31)
3. A smaller forehead and friends she can trust (Chapter 37)
4. UCLA (Chapter 39)
Short Answer
1. Running helps her release her emotions. She wants to release the elation over Jace, her anger toward Julia, and her annoyance with Yolanda. (Chapter 28)
2. Bernard asks Shayla if she requested a partner change. He tells her that he wishes they still would have been partners. This reveals that Bernard may be more invested in Shayla than it would seem. (Chapter 29)
3. Shayla starts to realize that Bernard may have a crush on her. She realizes this because he coldly responds to Shayla’s response about her kiss with Tyler. (Chapter 33)
CHAPTERS 46-60
Reading Check
1. The police officer was acquitted of shooting the Black man. (Chapter 49)
2. On the 405 freeway (Chapter 50)
3. Brown Girl Dreaming (Chapter 52)
4. Because Julia is treating it like recreation (Chapter 58)
Short Answer
1. Angie assumes that Shayla is referring to Black people with this phrase, which has alienating connotations. She reminds Shayla that she is Black too. (Chapter 46)
2. Shayla chooses to wear the armband to signify her solidary with Hana and the Black Lives Matter movement. This is significant because it shows a change in Shayla’s thinking; she now recognizes why it’s important to show solidarity. (Chapter 52)
3. She talks to Hana more about the purposes of the Black Lives Matter protests and decides that she also wants to make a change. She starts writing less in her eyeball journal and, instead, begins taking action. She also uses her voice to defend herself, especially when one of her classmates screams “blue lives matter.” (Chapters 46-60)
CHAPTERS 61-71
Reading Check
1. Coconut oil (Chapter 61)
2. That she’ll be kicked off the track team (Chapter 63)
3. “Still I Rise” (Chapter 64)
4. Because she trips and stumbles in the 200, injuring herself (Chapter 66)
Short Answer
1. Throughout the book, Shayla struggles with anxiety, largely due to insecurities having to do with her Black identity. When Shayla’s palms itch, it usually indicates that she is stressed, anxious, and worried. In these chapters, she is worried about her armband violating the school dress code. (Chapters 62-63)
2. Hana encourages Shayla to defy Principal Trask for banning armbands in school. Her advice to “go down big” is Hana encouraging Shayla to make a statement to the school in defiance and in support of Black Lives Matter; as a result, Shayla hands out armbands in front of the school the very next day. (Chapter 64)
3. When Julia admits that she misses the United Nations, that spurs a reconciliation. At this moment, Julia no longer emulates Stacy; she embraces her own individuality, inspiring her desire to reconnect with Shayla and Isabella. (Chapters 69)
