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.
Essay Topics
Research Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalist movement. What does the novel’s setting in a school named after Emerson reveal about the themes of belonging and change?
How do Shayla’s interactions with Tyler parallel her interactions with Jace? What do the similarities reveal about relationships and about the characters?
How does the quote on Emerson’s statue—“OUR GREATEST GLORY IS NOT IN NEVER FAILING, BUT IN RISING UP EVERY TIME WE FAIL” (130)—reflect how Shayla resolves her fear of getting in trouble? Consider what the resolution reveals about the themes of the novel.
Shayla’s hands itch when she finds herself in stressful situations. What type of situations make her hands itch? How and why does the itchiness of her hands change over the course of the novel? Explain with specific examples from the novel.
Both in her narration and as she writes in her eyeball journal, Shayla often notices Yolanda’s hair. Why is Shayla so fascinated with her hair? What does her fascination reveal about the themes of the novel?
Why is it so important to Shayla that she have a boyfriend? Explain with specific examples from the novel.
Ramée wrote A Good Kind of Trouble from a first-person point of view and included excerpts of Shayla’s eyeball journal at the ends of some chapters. How does this perspective and the journal content impact Shayla’s characterization?
Shayla’s thoughts often include figurative language. Consider the comparisons she makes when describing her appearance. What does her figurative language reveal about how she views herself? Explain with specific examples from the beginning, middle, and end of the novel.
Shayla’s older sister, Hana, seems intimidating, but Shayla often goes to her for advice. How does Hana influence Shayla’s thoughts and actions? Why do her words have such an impact on Shayla?
Shayla faces multiple conflicts throughout the novel. Some of her internal conflicts include her insecurity and fear of getting in trouble, and some of her external conflicts are with Julia, Principal Trask, and Bernard. Choose one of Shayla’s conflicts. What causes the turning point, or climax, of the conflict? What change in Shayla’s character occurs? What does the resolution of the conflict reveal about the themes of the novel?
