merci suarez changes gears by meg medina

I hope you’ll take a little time this month to reflect on the people in our communities who are facing this as-yet incurable illness as well as the 11 million people – including kids - who love and support them. It's palpable, page to page, and I know that in the book, as in life, the reality of a person's decline is at times overwhelming. But lurking in the background is Lolo’s illness. Still, when I book-talk the story with readers, I almost always lean heavily into Merci’s hijinks with friends and foes, in other words, the funny parts. I’ve done my best to capture all of it as honestly as possible in the pages. The Merci Suárez trilogy is, of course, set in the world of a girl coping with middle school life as well as with her grandfather’s accelerating illness. It's available in Spanish, too, important since 15% of Hispanics ages 65 and older are diagnosed with the disease. First, here’s a pretty comprehensive article from the National Institute on Health on the topic if you're working with kids in this situation. But it’s also Alzheimer’s Awareness month, and I want to give some space here to kids and families who are in the midst of it. It’s November – time to plan turkey day with our families. The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth.Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora.

Merci Suárez no sabe bailar, translated by Alexis Romay.Merci Suárez se pone las pilas, translated by Alexis Romay.In a coming-of-age tale full of humor and wisdom, award-winning author Meg Medina gets to the heart of the confusion and constant change that defines middle school - and the steadfast connection that defines family. No one in her family will tell Merci what's going on, so she’s left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school. 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. 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. 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. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. Merci Suarez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between in a resonant new novel from Meg Medina.

Merci suarez changes gears by meg medina