Cuban American Merci, 11, lives with her parents and older brother, Roli, at Las Casitas—three adjacent houses occupied by her extended family. Merci and Roli attend Seaward Academy, a private school where Roli is an academic star and Merci, now in her second year, has recently been named a “sunshine buddy” for a new student Michael Clark. Being a scholarship student at the school has enough challenges without Edna Santos, Merci’s own sunshine buddy the year before, annoyed at Merci. It turns out Edna likes Michael, creating drama Merci wants no part of. The drama Merci can’t avoid is at home, where her beloved grandfather, Lolo, has been acting moody and forgetful. When Merci has to take over caring for her young cousins after school because Lolo cannot, it means she can’t go out for soccer. Upset, and worried about Lolo, Merci wants reassurance her family seems unable to provide. When they finally reveal Lolo was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it’s a difficult truth, but one that Merci needed to know. Merci is firmly grounded in family and culture, giving her the stability she needs to meet and respond to change in this lively, moving story. (Ages 9–12)

Winner of the 2019 Newbery Medal

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 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. 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.