Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: Hell is used once. “Gook” is used 5 or 6 times in reference to a Cambodian boy. “Good God” appears once.

Violence: A car accident in which a boy’s arm is ripped off and he sustains extensive injuries. A father tortures his son’s dog to teach the boy to be hard. This description is very short, only a couple of sentences. A fist fight. Another fight in which one of the characters is shot and another is cut with a broken glass bottle.

Adult Themes: Chay is harassed because of his race and experiences prejudice. His family is equally prejudiced against their non-Cambodian neighbors and they disown Chay when he falls in love with an American girl. Some atrocities of the Khmer Rouge are mentioned. In Cambodia, Chay’s sister is shot in front of him and his brother is taken from their family. The immigration of Cambodians is discouraged in the press. Chay learns that he was conceived when his mother was raped. Difficult relationships between fathers and sons. A family experiences a death and grieves.

Synopsis

If you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you. That’s what Henry Smith’s father always told him, but as it turns out, Trouble can find you anywhere, even in aristocratic Blythbury-by-the-Sea. Trouble first knocks at the Smith’s door when Henry’s elder brother, Franklin, is struck by a truck driven by Chay Chouan, a Cambodian immigrant who attends the same exclusive preparatory school as Franklin. Chay faces criminal charges relating to the accident, but when a plea deal is reached, the town seethes with hatred toward Chay and the Cambodian population.

Fleeing from grief, Henry and his best friend start out toward Main to climb Mount Katahdin, a peak Henry and Franklin had planned to climb together. Along the way they encounter Chay, accept his help, and learn about the Trouble that has followed Chay throughout his life. In fact, Chay came from a place where Trouble lived. Together they learn that although you can’t avoid it, some lessons can only be learned through lots of Trouble.

This is an incredible book. If we awarded stars, I would give this one 5.  I loved Schmidt’s writing and kept wanting to copy down quotes, which was difficult since I listened to this one on audio. He has a style that is very engaging with a voice that is at times humorous and sweet, but also heart wrenching. I really felt like he captured an incredibly wide range of emotions. The story is also quite clever with several connections between separate characters and events, helping to create a feeling of continuity with the different story lines going on in the book.

I did manage to write down a couple of quotes. Give these some thought.

“You know what it is to lose someone, but you don’t know what it is to be lost.”

“Sometimes it is more satisfying to suffer than to take advice.”

“No matter what happens, there is always the business of the world to attend to.”

“The world is Trouble…and Grace. That is all there is.”

While Trouble deals with some important and weighty topics, it is still appropriate for most youth ages 13 and up, which is another thing I loved about it. Thank you Mr. Schmidt.

Discussion topics: Honesty, Tolerance, Prejudice, Compassion, Empathy, Forgiveness, Father/Son relationships, Death