Merci Suárez Series

In a satisfying finale to her trilogy, Newbery Medalist Meg Medina follows Merci Suárez into an eighth-grade year full of changes—evolving friendships, new responsibilities, and heartbreaking loss.

For Merci Suárez, eighth grade means a new haircut, nighttime football games, and an out-of-town overnight field trip. At home, it means more chores and keeping an eye on Lolo as his health worsens. It’s a year filled with more responsibility and independence, but also with opportunities to reinvent herself. Merci has always been fine with not being one of the popular kids like Avery Sanders, who will probably be the soccer captain and is always traveling to fun places and buying new clothes. But then Avery starts talking to Merci more, and not just as a teammate. Does this mean they’re friends? Merci wants to play it cool, but with Edna always in her business, it’s only a matter of time before Merci has to decide where her loyalty stands. Whether Merci is facing school drama or changing family dynamics, readers will empathize as she discovers who she can count on—and what can change in an instant—in Meg Medina’s heartfelt conclusion to the trilogy that began with the Newbery Medal–winning novel.

A Kirkus Reviews Most Anticipated Book of 2021
In Meg Medina’s follow-up to her Newbery Medal–winning novel, Merci takes on seventh grade, with all its travails of friendship, family, love—and finding your rhythm.

Seventh grade is going to be a real trial for Merci Suárez. For science she’s got no-nonsense Mr. Ellis, who expects her to be a smart as her brother, Roli. She’s been assigned to co-manage the tiny school store with Wilson Bellevue, a boy she barely knows, but whom she might actually like. And she’s tangling again with classmate Edna Santos, who is bossier and more obnoxious than ever now that she is in charge of the annual Heart Ball.

One thing is for sure, though: Merci Suárez can’t dance—not at the Heart Ball or anywhere else. Dancing makes her almost as queasy as love does, especially now that Tía Inés, her merengue-teaching aunt, has a new man in her life. Unfortunately, Merci can’t seem to avoid love or dance for very long. She used to talk about everything with her grandfather, Lolo, but with his Alzheimer’s getting worse each day, whom can she trust to help her make sense of all the new things happening in her life? The Suárez family is back in a touching, funny story about growing up and discovering love’s many forms, including how we learn to love and believe in ourselves.

In Meg Medina’s follow-up to her Newbery Medal–winning novel, Merci takes on seventh grade, with all its travails of friendship, family, love—and finding your rhythm.

Séptimo grado va a ser todo un desafío para Merci Suárez: los maestros son más estrictos, las amistades son más complicadas y su familia es todavía… bueno, ellos siempre hacen que las cosas sean interesantes. Merci también tiene que gestionar la tienda de la escuela con un varón… y el hecho de que él es —pudiéramos decir— amable hace que todo sea aún más confuso. Y también está Edna Santos, más mandona que nunca, especialmente ahora que está a cargo de un evento anual: el Baile de los Corazones.

Sin embargo, una cosa es cierta: Merci Suárez no sabe bailar…, ni en el Baile de los Corazones ni en ninguna parte. La idea de bailar en público le da casi tanta náusea como el amor, y Merci ha estado pensando en el amor más de lo que ella quisiera, especialmente ahora que tía Inés parece que tiene novio. Merci solía hablar de todo con Lolo, pero ahora que el Alzheimer de su abuelo se está empeorando, ¿en quién podrá confiar ella para que la ayude a entender todas las cosas nuevas que ocurren en su vida?

Desde nuevas relaciones hasta conflictos con sus amistades y cambios en la familia, los lectores se deleitarán al ver a Merci descubrir el amor en sus múltiples formas en esta continuación de la novela ganadora de la Medalla Newbery.



Seventh grade is going to be tough for Merci Suárez. Her no-nonsense science teacher expects her to be a smart as her brother, Roli. She’s been assigned to co-manage the school store with Wilson Bellevue, a boy she barely knows but might actually like. And then there’s Edna Santos, who is more obnoxious than ever now that she’s in charge of the annual Heart Ball. One thing is for sure, though: Merci Suárez can’t dance, not even at the Heart Ball. Dancing makes her almost as queasy as love does, especially now that merengue-teaching Tía Inés has a new man in her life. Merci used to confide in her grandfather, Lolo, but with his Alzheimer’s getting worse, whom can she trust to help her make sense of all the changes in her life? The Suárez family is back in a touching, funny story about growing up and discovering love’s many forms, including how we learn to love and believe in ourselves. Now in a Spanish edition.

Winner of the Newbery Medal
A New York Times Bestseller

“The realistic portrayal of a complex young Latina’s life is one many readers will relate to. . . . Medina cruises into readers’ hearts.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

Merci Suárez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, as strong and thoughtful as Merci is, she has never been completely like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don’t have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci’s school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna’s jealousy. Things aren’t going well at home, either: Merci’s grandfather and most trusted ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately — forgetting important things, falling from his bike, and getting angry over nothing. And Merci is left to her own worries, because no one in her family will tell her what’s going on. Winner of the 2019 Newbery Medal, this coming-of-age tale by New York Times best-selling author Meg Medina gets to the heart of the confusion and constant change that defines middle school — and the steadfast connection that defines family.

La amable y tenaz Merci Suárez, estudiante de sexto grado, lidia con cambios difíciles en sus relaciones con amistades, familiares y el resto del mundo en una nueva y relevante novela de Meg Medina.

Merci Suárez sabía que el sexto grado sería diferente, pero no tenía idea alguna lo diferente que resultaría. En primer lugar, Merci nunca se ha parecido a los otros niños de su escuela privada en la Florida, porque tanto ella como Roli, su hermano mayor, son estudiantes becados. Ellos no tienen ni una casa grande ni un yate elegante, y tienen que desempeñar servicios comunitarios adicionales para compensar por su matricula gratis. Así que cuando la mandona de Edna Santos se fija en el nuevo niño que la escuela le ha asignado a Merci como su “amigos de arco iris,” Merci se convierte en el foco de los celos de Edna. Las cosas no andan muy bien en su casa tampoco: Lolo, el abuelo de Merci, su aliado de mayor confianza, ha estado actuando un poco raro últimamente: se le olvida cosas importantes, se cae de la bicicleta y se enoja por cualquier cosa. Nadie en la familia le ha dicho a Merci qué es lo que le aflige, así que Merci tiene que lidiar sola con sus preocupaciones, a la vez que se siente aislada en la escuela. En una historia sobre los ritos de la pre-adolescencia, llena de humor y sabiduría, la galardonada autora Meg Medina llega al fondo del desconcierto y del cambio continuo que caracterizan el último año de la escuela elemental, así como de los lazos inquebrantables de la familia.