Good Books Young Troublemakers Book Club for Middle School Students

“Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” – Congressman & civil rights activist John Lewis

SPONSOR A MONTH OF GOOD BOOKS YOUNG TROUBLEMAKERS! HERE

Good Books Young Troublemakers is a book club where middle school-aged kids read great books and practice speaking up. In GBYT, we create a space for participants to reflect on identity, privilege, and power, and offer tools and practice opportunities to help prepare them to use their voices to respond to moments of injustice, both small and large. In short, we help them learn how to engage in “good trouble”!

Interested in donating to Good Books Young Troublemakers? Every donation is put towards advancing the Good Books Young Troublemakers mission of using stories to help kids develop empathy, become confident allies, and engage in good trouble.

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Not only are books fun, but some stories can also help us learn how to think about injustice, use our voices–and be good troublemakers! Join Jamet and Lou to chat about Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee.

Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance (where she and her family are the only Asian Americans) and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. For instance:

• You can tell a LOT about someone by the way they order food.

• And people can surprise you. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in disappointing ways.

• And the Golden Palace has secrets.

But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has. Like, why are her mom and her grandmother always fighting? Who are the people in the photographs on the office wall? And when she discovers that a beloved family treasure has gone missing—and someone has left a racist note—Maizy decides it’s time to find the answers.

The July book club pick was sponsored by a community member. But you are welcome to pick up a free copy, purchase a copy to read, or grab it from the library, and join us at Dog-Eared Books, Saturday, July 26th, at 4 PM, for the book discussion.