Trouble Don't Last

"Truth is, trouble follows me like a shadow." 

For eleven year old Samuel, the main character in this story, avoiding trouble is just about impossible. Born a slave he has known nothing more than what he can see from the plantation home and what he is told by his "adoptive parents" Lilly and Harrison. He is a normal eleven year old boy, being both curious and clumsy, and that causes him to do things his Master isn't exactly fond of. When Harrison kidnaps him from the cold kitchen floor to accompany him on his journey to freedom, Samuel is extremely skeptical. It isn't until he sees all that is outside of the plantation and realizes what life without slavery just might be like that he finds no guilt in running.

Websites

• One website that might be a particularly helpful resource addresses the book, the author, some discussion questions you may use and projects to connect this reading to other content areas.
• During Samuel's time many slaves journeyed on the Underground Railroad. This website would be useful in the classroom to demonstrate for students what such a journey may be like.

Vocabulary

In looking at the vocabulary contained within this text, we may focus on how the author uses a sort of slave dialect as Samuel narrates the story. Does this use of language make the experience more real for the audience? Additionally there are some terms that may need to be discussed. Students will most likely be unfamiliar with terms such as plantation, patroller, and abolitionist.

Reading Activities

Before Reading

As a whole group have students look at the cover of the book making predictions of what the story may be about. What can they tell about who the characters may be, how the plot may progress, what the setting is and what genre in literature this may pertain to? What other books have they read that they think may be similar? As you read refer back to these predictions and see how accurately the class was able to make sense of the book by just looking at the cover.

During Reading

As we read the beginning of the story we find that Samuel is in a predicament where he has broken one the Master's dinner plates and has received a hefty punishment for his clumsiness. Have each student in the class reflect upon a time that they had been punished. What had they done wrong and in what way were they punished. Comparing this with what Samuel had done and received as punishment does it seem unfair? What does this say about the treatment of African Americans before the abolition of slavery?

After Reading

When Samuel and Harrison left the plantation that decided to leave Lilly behind. They also watched as the river man pushed Hetty Scott and all her ruffly clothes back into the river. Why does it seem as they are travelling that they leave all women behind? Have students give reasoning behind what they feel is the mentality of the men as they run. Put in the same circumstances would they have chosen to do the same?