merci suarez changes gears by meg medina

In this eventful year, Merci encounters bullying, feeling out of place because her private-school classmates can buy things her lower middle class family cannot, family responsibilities that keep her from trying out for sports teams (despite her athletic ability), and facing Lolo’s decline. All the older people in Merci’s extended family-all of whom live in three small adjacent houses they call Las Casitas-seem to know what’s going on but won’t tell her. Most ominous of all, though, are the changes in Merci’s beloved grandfather, Lolo, who forgets more and more, and now has begun to act strangely-fighting with loved ones and wandering off into traffic. Merci’s older brother Roli has his driver’s license and will soon be leaving for college. There’s a new boy in class, just moved to South Florida from Minnesota, and Merci has been assigned to be his Welcome Buddy, but wealthy, popular classmate Edna Santos has set her sights on him. It’s the beginning of Mercedes (Merci) Suarez’s sixth grade year, and right away she notices big changes. You can learn more about Merci on Candlewick Press’s Merci Su árez Changes Gears page.Review Source: De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children You can also access the teaching guide here. Please view and enjoy the teachers’ guide I created for Merci Suárez Changes Gears:

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions: 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 Suárez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different.

Summary: Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suárez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between in a resonant new novel from Meg Medina. Published: September 11th, 2018 by Candlewick Press

Merci suarez changes gears by meg medina