A Good Kind of Trouble

The first-person narrator and protagonist, Shayla Willows (“Shay”) is a studious and increasingly reflective seventh grader. She begins the novel as a rule-following, anxious, self-conscious student and ends as a non-conforming, brave, expressive activist. Because she likes having a sense of control, she refuses to play the Command game out of fear of losing that control and risking trouble. Shayla is Black, and her two best friends are Japanese American and Puerto Rican American, so they refer to themselves as the “United Nations.” At first, she believes “race doesn’t even matter” (48), but her perspective changes as she witnesses the acquittal of the clearly guilty police officer and when Principal Trask targets Black students for disciplinary action.

Shayla’s character arc is, on one level, a movement from superficiality towards authenticity. She spends the rising action of the novel crushing on the handsome Jace Hayward, even though he made fun of her forehead (a physical feature of which she’s acutely aware, along with her unflattering PE clothes). She ignores his unkind personality, focusing on the social status she could gain with such an attractive boyfriend. Her obsession with appearance carries over to her relationship with one of her best friends, Isabella Alvarez. Isabella is beautiful, and Shayla notices Jace’s attraction to her, initiating one of the major external conflicts of the novel. Her envy of Isabella’s beauty betrays Shayla’s initial superficiality. She often focuses first on appearance when describing others and often negatively compares her own appearance to theirs in a show of insecurity. As her priorities shift, she considers a person’s actions rather than their appearance, ditching the prospect of Jace and instead looking towards the Black heroes of the past and present.

Shayla’s arc is also defined by a movement from submissiveness towards principled courage. She overcomes her fear of trouble to support Black Lives Matter, her studiousness coming in handy as she researches the dress code and finds that, prior to Principal Trask banning them, there were no existing code violations regarding the armbands. Rather than passively hoping the justice system will fix things, she takes action to change how people make assumptions about Black people: “Maybe after the trial is over, people will know we’re not scary. They’ll know we matter” (41). When her idealistic beliefs about justice are shattered, it spurs her to realize that “[s]ome things are worth the trouble” (358).

Julia, a Japanese American, is one of Shayla’s two best friends who comprise the “United Nations.” Her carelessness and sense of humor underscore Shayla’s diligence and need for control, revealing her as a foil to Shayla. Julia often makes jokes and statements that cause Shayla to feel embarrassed and defensive. As Shayla explores her individual values and learns that standing out catalyzes change, Julia continues to focus on fitting in with Stacy, refusing to wear the black armbands until Stacy decides it would be cool.

Julia also acts as an antagonist by distancing herself from the United Nations in favor of her newfound Asian American friends. While Shayla changes her behaviors to gain Jace’s attention, Julia changes under Stacy’s influence. She incorporates Stacy’s slang into her dialogue and adds bright highlights to her hair. Stacy’s increasing influence on Julia’s behaviors causes some of Shayla’s anxiety to shift towards anger as she feels rejected by Julia.

Isabella, a Puerto Rican American, is the last member of the United Nations friend group. She’s crafty, considerate, a mediator, and a people pleaser. She disappoints her mother, who preaches to the girls about being strong yet lectures Isabella into submission—but she undergoes her own transformation as she goes from soft-spoken and unable to say “no” to standing up for herself against Julia and Shayla. However, she is quicker to change than Shayla is; with her newfound courageous voice, she confronts Shayla about Shayla’s misguided anger toward her. The confrontation, in turn, helps facilitate Shayla’s growth.

Shayla struggles to read Isabella’s emotions and completely misses the signs that Isabella has her own struggles. Her parents have gone through a divorce, and, while Isabella copes somewhat maladaptively by collecting kittens, she does not turn to resentment or lashing out, as do her two friends. In contrast, she is the kindest among the friend group, quick to empathize or to defend one friend against the other’s unkindness. Isabella remains a constant, reliable, loyal friend to Shayla even when Shayla doesn’t treat her like a friend should.

Jace is a static character and the popular boy stereotype. Ramée characterizes him directly as “the jerk who talked about [Shayla’s] forehead” (8). His indirect characterization of using Shayla to get closer to Isabella, and his victimization of Alex through the Command game confirms that he’s inconsiderate and shallow. Shayla’s descriptions of him are predominantly physically oriented: “with his cinnamon skin that’s just a little lighter than [Shayla’s], and those wide, lime-green eyes, and a grin as cool as lake water” (8). Even the simile illustrating his grin characterizes him as aloof and popular; Shayla compares his smile to something “cool,” a word evoking both popularity and emotional distance.

Jace’s character highlights Shayla’s insecurity and shallow priorities throughout the rising action of the novel. Shayla obsesses over gaining Jace’s attention while Jace uses Shayla to find out more about Isabell; the love triangle causes a conflict between Shayla and Isabella. When Isabella rejects Jace because he’s mean, it further emphasizes the insularity of Shayla’s focus on him. Shayla creates unfounded dissension with Isabella and dismisses the gravity of the police shooting trial in her single-minded goal of gaining a boyfriend. She enviously blames Isabella for both her beauty and Jace’s feelings (though they are both out of Isabella’s control), and her first rebellions focus on altering her appearance in the hopes of gaining Jace’s favor. Though Jace’s character moves the plot forward, it is not due to his growth: It’s due to others’ reactions to him. He remains the same from beginning to end as Shayla grows away from him.

Shayla’s older sister, Hana, models activism for Shayla. She has an assertive personality, pushing Shayla around physically, but ultimately, Hana encourages much of Shayla’s growth. Her open explanations of why she protests causes a shift in Shayla’s understanding, and she passes on the symbolic armbands to her younger sister. She is acutely socially aware, predicting both the rift within the United Nations and Shayla’s Black peers thinking she’s supercilious. Ramée’s descriptions of Hana’s interactions with and responses towards Regina hint at something more than just friendship, but there is no explicit romance.

Shayla’s mother, “Momma,” has a sense of humor, is social, and raises Shayla with consistent morality. She begins the novel somewhat reserved about Black Lives Matter, often asking Shayla to be quiet when she asks about the trial, and she doesn’t honk to support a protester after the trial verdict. But, as the novel resolves, she defends Shayla’s right to wear the armband against Principal Trask, demonstrating that, sometimes, what’s right is to stand up to authority.

Shayla’s father, “Daddy,” feels cynical about racial injustice, often making snide remarks about the school’s white-centric curriculum and race-related current events. He and Hana are a united front when discussing the need for change in how Black lives are treated. He is a mentor in race issues to Shayla, explaining the Black perspective on current events.

Coach West is a catalyst for many of the changes in Shayla’s life: joining the track team, jumping hurdles with Angie, having the confidence to enter the costume contest, realizing her error in mistreating Isabella. Coach West also provides Shayla the opportunity to contribute to the relay team’s win. She serves the role of mentor in the novel, spending several scenes advising Shayla on how to move forward with maturity and relating to Shayla’s experiences. She is the only Black teacher on campus, and she defends Shayla and Bernard against Principal Trask. Her defiance of Principal Trask shows the strength of her moral convictions as she risks disciplinary action from her boss.

Ms. Jacobs, Shayla’s English teacher, assigns the eyeball journal, which helps Shayla notice and reflect upon her experiences. Ms. Jacobs establishes herself as a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement through the quotes and explanations of current events she shares in class. Despite her good intentions, however, she continually brings attention to Shayla’s race during class discussions, showing her insensitivity to the social nuances of middle schoolers; Shayla feels like everyone is looking at her as if she’s bizarre. Despite her foibles, Ms. Jacobs plays a role in encouraging Shayla to take ownership of who she is and the events that may affect her. By the end of the novel, Shayla sits “tall and proud” (331) when Ms. Jacobs reads a poem by Maya Angelou, a prolific Black writer.

Mr. Powell, Shayla’s history teacher, wears flamboyant scarves even though students mock him. He warns Shayla several times about how others may react negatively to her opinion on racial matters, but he does so with the intent of support. He discusses differences with the class, and he shares with Shayla that he wears his scarf to show others that “it’s okay to be different” (329). His scarf represents the impact of expressing one’s individuality.

Principal Trask plays a minimal role throughout much of the rising action of the novel, but she drives the climax and falling action as the antagonist to Shayla’s activism. She rules over Emerson Middle School as an authoritarian figure, exposing her anti-Black racism in how she treats Bernard and other Black students, how she orders Shayla to remove her Black Panther costume, and how she arbitrarily bans the armbands. She demonstrates how authority figures are not always role models and how they can leverage their power based on assumption rather than reality.

Three of Shayla’s classmates, each of them Black, indirectly provide insight into Shayla’s growth (and need for growth) and her sense of racial belonging.

When Shayla first interacts with Bernard, it’s with trepidation due to a violent incident involving Legos that occurred in second grade. Shayla views him as a bully, but as early as Chapter 10, he worries that he may have hurt her when picking her up off the floor, and he actually defends others against bullies. He tends to get into trouble unfairly with teachers who single him out of a group or overreact to his actions, portraying the effect of racial bias. His character also serves the narrative purpose of exposing Shayla’s own internalized biases; she spends a long time seeing Bernard as threatening, despite his harmless behavior. His character starts rough and defensive, but he ends up hugging Shayla as her friend.

Yolanda is Shayla’s first Black friend, whom she meets through PE and shop class. Shayla often journals about how Yolanda wears her hair, a source of fascination for Shayla and expression for Yolanda. The novel doesn’t give Yolanda extensive characterization, but her presence is illuminating; Shayla’s anxiety around Yolanda illustrate Shayla’s insecure relationship with her own race as well as her longing to connect with others who can empathize with her racial experience. Yolanda’s character also indirectly sheds a light on Shayla’s self-absorption; She calls Shayla out for being mean to Tyler, also motivated by her own feelings for him, though Shayla is too focused on herself to be sensitive to (or even notice) Yolanda’s feelings. Though Yolanda sometimes even avoids Shayla for most of the novel, the two stand in solidarity by wearing their armbands.

Tyler takes shop class with Shayla and Yolanda. Shayla finds him “irritating” and “sweaty,” but he thinks she’s “cute” and tries to make her his girlfriend by exaggerating their relationship to others. His superficial attitude towards Shayla parallels Shayla’s attitude towards Jace, emphasizing that a person shouldn’t judge others by appearance alone. He also calls attention to the need for consent prior to physical interactions; after his commanded kiss with Shayla, she and Coach West both admonish him for pushing himself on her without allowing her to refuse.