Trouble
Trouble
Trouble
Gary D. Schmidt
“Henry Smith’s father told him that if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you.”But Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry’s older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin’s preparatory school, and the accident sparks racial tensions in the school—and in the well-established town where Henry’s family has lived for generations. Caught between anger and grief, Henry sets out to do the only thing he can think of: climb Mt. Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine, which he and Franklin were going to climb together. Along with Black Dog, whom Henry has rescued from drowning, and a friend, Henry leaves without his parents’ knowledge. The journey, both exhilarating and dangerous, turns into an odyssey of discovery about himself, his older sister, Louisa, his ancestry, and why one can never escape from Trouble.

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Fiction

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
Profile Picture

Henry Smith's father always told him that if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you. ...but Trouble did find Henry. It came in and took his brother when it left. Trouble left Henry with nothing, nothing but a dirty black dog to take care of. Henry only has one choice, to leave. He goes to climb Mount Katahdin and attemps to cross the Knife Edge and get to the peak of the mountain. It turns out that the mountain teaches him some things, but does Henry listen to the lesson or ignore it?

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