Troublemaker by John Cho

Troublemaker honestly pictures generational, cultural, and racial conflict against the background of the Los Angeles riots of 1992.

Troublemaker by John Cho. Little, Brown, 2022, 204 pages

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 11-15

Appa said he named me after a river. The Jordan River is where Jesus got baptized, he said, and it’s also what the Israelites crossed to get to the promised land . . . He got this far-off look in his eye when he talked about it, like he was thinking of his own crossing over the Pacific Ocean from Korea to America. “That’s what you are for us,” he said to me once. “The chance to be better.”

No pressure or anything.

American Dream?

By the time Jordan is 14, his dad is having second thoughts about life being better in America. Father and son have been butting heads a lot lately over the trouble Jordan is having with school and paternal expectations. It’s all the worse because his older sister Sarah is such a high achiever. Jordan’s resentment of Appa battles with his desire to please him, but the former is winning until a local crisis brings matters to a head.

The trial of four L.A. police officers charged with beating up Rodney King the previous fall (an act caught on video for the world to see) has ended with the acquittal of all four. South Central L.A., where Jordan’s father owns a store, has erupted in violence and looting, and Koreans are particular targets. Appa decides he must go downtown to defend his property, but Jordan happens to know a crucial fact: his dad did not take his gun. Does he realize how serious the situation is? That he could be hurt, or even killed? Jordan decides to retrieve the gun from its hiding place and take it to his father. Then maybe Appa will appreciate him.

It’s a stupid decision: precisely the kind an adolescent boy would make. Jordan and his best friend Mike hitch a ride with Hae Dang, Mike’s super-cool older brother, who doesn’t get the full story. After Hae Dang drops them off, the boys face a night of misadventures and close shaves which will force almost everyone in the family to reevaluate their previous judgments.

Author John Cho (perhaps best known for playing Sulu in the Star Trek prequels) used his own L.A. childhood and memories of the riots as source material. He avoids easy answers and pat characterizations and manages to find grace on all sides.

Overall Rating: 4.25 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5  

Read more about our ratings here.                 

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Review: The 1863 New York City Draft Riots form the background for another historical novel with similar themes, Last of the Name.
• Reviews: Other novels about Asian-American children trying to meet their immigrant parents’ expectations: Pippa Park Raises Her Game, Front Desk, and Stand Up, Yumi Chung.

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