Gary Schmidt is one of my 'Go to' authors when I'm looking for a book to read together as a family. He brings up real-life issues with characters that I end up loving and his books are always good for starting a discussion. Trouble did not disappoint as far as bringing up some hot topics - slavery, immigration, racism, lying to save a friend. But as much as I enjoyed all of the issues, there was almost too much thrown into this book, which finally detracted from a concise cohesive story. Will I read another of his books - absolutely! Still a great book, but not one of his best.