Cuban American Merci Suarez starts 8th grade sure of her steady, reliable friendships with Hanna, Leah, and, more recently, Edna; but Merci is less sure about what to make of feelings for her friend Wilson. Does she like him romantically? Soccer player Merci is also on the fringes of a group of several popular girls, teammates who seem to be suggesting she must choose between them and her old friends, and she’s having a hard time knowing what to do. At home, where Merci lives alongside her tightknit extended family, Lolo’s Alzheimer’s is progressing; her beloved grandfather needs more help than their family alone can provide. Meanwhile, her twin nephews’ dad is suddenly in their lives—albeit not wholly enthusiastically—after her aunt asks him to step up, and Merci doesn’t like seeing the boys so enamored of him. The theme of change has been a constant across the three Merci Suarez books, but it’s never just more of the same. As Merci grows and matures, she navigates new challenges and new realities, from the increasing complexities of relationships to accepting that her nephews deserve to have a relationship with their dad. Lolo’s death is the hardest change of all. But the love of family and friends is the other constant in Merci’s life, and the one that matters most as she grieves.  (Ages 9-12)

In a satisfying finale to her trilogy, Newbery Medalist Meg Medina follows Merci Suárez into an eighth-grade year full of changes—evolving friendships, new responsibilities, and heartbreaking loss.

For Merci Suárez, eighth grade means a new haircut, nighttime football games, and an out-of-town overnight field trip. At home, it means more chores and keeping an eye on Lolo as his health worsens. It’s a year filled with more responsibility and independence, but also with opportunities to reinvent herself. Merci has always been fine with not being one of the popular kids like Avery Sanders, who will probably be the soccer captain and is always traveling to fun places and buying new clothes. But then Avery starts talking to Merci more, and not just as a teammate. Does this mean they’re friends? Merci wants to play it cool, but with Edna always in her business, it’s only a matter of time before Merci has to decide where her loyalty stands. Whether Merci is facing school drama or changing family dynamics, readers will empathize as she discovers who she can count on—and what can change in an instant—in Meg Medina’s heartfelt conclusion to the trilogy that began with the Newbery Medal–winning novel.