Merci Suárez changes gears
(Book)

Merci Suárez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. 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. 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. 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.

009-012.

4-7.

700L,Lexile

Accelerated Reader,MG,4.6,10.0.

Accelerated Reader AR,MG,4.6,10,196915.

Accelerated Reader AR,MG,3.9,11,196915.

A Junior Library Guild selection.

ALSC Notable Children's Book, 2019

CSMCL Best Books, 2018

Horn Book Fanfare List, 2018

Kirkus Prize Finalist for Young Readers' Literature, 2018

NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children Honor, 2019

Newbery Medal, 2019

Publisher's Weekly Best Middle Grade Book, 2018

School Library Journal's Best Books, 2018