Winner of the 2019 Newbery Medal

Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates tough changes with friends, family, and everyone among inside a resonant new novel from Meg Medina.

Merci Suarez knew that sixth grade will be different, but she had no idea just how different. To begin with, Merci has never been just like the other kids at her private college in Florida, because she and her older sibling, Roli, are scholarship or grant college students. They don’t possess a large house or a extravagant vessel, about Merci Suárez Changes Gears and they have to do extra community support to make up because of their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos models her sights on the new young man who happens to be Merci’s school-assigned Sunlight Buddy, Merci turns into the prospective of Edna’s jealousy. Stuff aren’t heading well at home, either: Merci’s grandfather and most respected ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately — forgetting considerations, dropping from his bike, and getting irritated over nothing. No-one in her family will tell Merci what’s happening, so she’s left to her personal worries, while also sense all on her behalf own at school. Within a coming-of-age story full of laughter and wisdom, award-winning writer Meg Medina reaches the heart from the misunderstandings and constant switch that defines middle college — as well as the steadfast connection that defines family members.