Luvvie Ajayi Jones wrote “Rising Trouble Maker” as a “fear-fighter manual for teens.” So I gave it to my son and daughter this spring. They said I should read it too, but I didn’t have the bandwidth until they left for summer camp. I wish I had picked it up sooner! I’m the oldest of four girls in my family and reading the book helped me understand what it would have been like to have a big sister. The chapters are divided into admonishments like “Dream Audaciously” and “Draw Your Lines” that are lovingly reassuring. It’s written in the voice of someone who has already been through the fire and has altruistically come back to guide you through it. In the chapter “Own Your Dopeness,” Jones teaches us that our fear of appearing arrogant prevents us from celebrating our own success. This is problematic because if you don’t stop to recognize and appreciate how amazing you are, you’ll spend too much time chasing instead of living. What’s fascinating is that all her example scenarios apply just as much to a teenagers world as they do adults. If you post or send a text about one of your accomplishments and someone rolls their eyes, unfollows or deletes you she asks, “Is that someone you actually want in your life?...Those people do not deserve your dopeness.” This section reminded me of all of the energy that toxic people in the workplace take up. The entire book is one pep talk after another that all of us could use at various times throughout our day. In fact, it’s one of the rare books that you could just pick up, flip to almost any page, and get your soul fed. The title is a nod to the late civil rights icon John Lewis who said, “Never be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” Thank you @luvvie for inspiring Kofi and Ekua to be too much, speak the truth and fight fear. We’ll all do our best to follow in your grandmother’s footsteps.