Don't Cause Trouble

Chung, Aree. Don't Cause Trouble.  

April 22, 2025 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR

E ARC provided by Netgalley.com

Ming Lee is the child of immigrants from China, and has trouble navigating school because of the differences in his upbringing, including the fact that his parents are so competitive about saving money that his mother cuts his hair at home. He has to deal with a lot of negative comments at school, but when middle school starts, does make two good friends, Vikrum and Marcus. While Ming's concerns center around things like saving up for Air Elevate shoes. His parents, however, are dealing with bigger issues, like the father's long lost brother contacting the family and needing money. The mother, who trained as a nurse but can only find work cleaning, is a devout church goer, and insists it is better to give money to the church, believing that "God will provide". Even though his parents are insistent that he concentrate on his school work, Ming manages to talk them in to letter him have a sleepover with his friends, and to go trick or treating on Halloween. He gets a lot of candy, and tries to sell some of it to classmates in order to earn money for the shoes he wants. Motivated by a shirt that he sees advertised that all of his classmates are wearing, Ming comes up with a plan to steal three of them from the mall. This lands him, as well as Vikrum and Marcus, in very big trouble, and his friendships are in jeopardy. He and his mother start a small business selling egg rolls that is surprisingly successful, and he also helps her clean as a way to apologize for his brief foray into criminal activities. His friends are eventually allowed to hang out with him again, and Ming starts to feel confident enough that he plans to try out for the school basketball team.
Strengths: Visually, this was a bit different from other graphic novels I've read, which was a nice change. Raina Telgemaier is great, but this doesn't mean that every graphic novel has to look like her work. It was interesting to see typical tween activity through the lens of Ming's parents, who weren't entirely sold on activities like Halloween or sleepovers. The brief discussion of shoplifting was interesting, and is a topic rarely discussed in middle grade literature, although I'm sure occurs more often than we realize. Ming's positive attitude and efforts to try to better his own situation were good to see.
Weaknesses: I couldn't quite tell when this was set; Ming's plaid pants and striped t shirt made me think it was set in the 1970s, when this was a frequent, if questionable, sartorial choice, but it seemed more like the 1990s. I'm still not understanding the hatred for thrift stores; I haven't really shopped anywhere else for thirty years.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like graphic novel style memoirs (although this is a fictionalized account) about the immigrant experience like LaMotte and Ann Xu's Measuring Up, Ray Xu's Alterations or Martin's MexiKid.