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A review by greenlivingaudioworm
Merci Suárez Can't Dance by Meg Medina
4.0
"Now I'm finding out that 'one day' doesn't arrive all at once. It creeps up on you a little bit at a time, like a skilled assassin."
Merci Suarez is back for another middle school adventure. This book is definitely geared at middle grade readers, but it paints such a realistic picture of the thoughts of middle schoolers. In this book, Merci starts to become more aware of the boys in/around her life. She starts paying attention to the adult men who are in her/her family's life and wondering what their romantic status is. She starts to worry about the boys at school and how many of them have kissed a girl and what exactly leads up to that first kiss. While Merci is navigating all of these thoughts, she finds herself spending more time with a boy while she manages the school store during lunch, managing her complicated relationship with Edna - who is planning the annual Heart Ball, and navigating her grandfather's dementia, which only seems to be getting worse. Merci has a lot on her plate! When Merci is put in charge of the photo booth at the Heart Ball and some of the equipment gets damaged, Merci has to figure out how to handle this new challenge in her life.
I personally really enjoyed this next installment in Merci Suarez's story. I appreciate how genuine Merci is navigating a variety of problems at the same time: friends, family, school, romance, and figuring out what her values are. As someone who works with middle schoolers on a regular basis, I know there is a lot going on in the heads of my students. It was refreshing to see all of these worries and troubles laid out on the page in a very age appropriate manner. I appreciate that Merci tried to solve her problems herself (as many middle schoolers do) but it ended up not working out the way she intended (as things so often do). It's refreshing to see a new, diverse, voice in the world of middle grade lit. I am very excited to read the next part in Merci's middle school adventures ([b:Merci Suárez Plays It Cool|60540089|Merci Suárez Plays It Cool|Meg Medina|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655406083l/60540089._SX50_.jpg|95413484]). I love how each of these books follows a different year of Merci's middle school years, much like the [b:Front Desk|36127488|Front Desk (Front Desk, #1)|Kelly Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507986199l/36127488._SX50_.jpg|51903030] series.
TW: dementia, bullying, racism
Merci Suarez is back for another middle school adventure. This book is definitely geared at middle grade readers, but it paints such a realistic picture of the thoughts of middle schoolers. In this book, Merci starts to become more aware of the boys in/around her life. She starts paying attention to the adult men who are in her/her family's life and wondering what their romantic status is. She starts to worry about the boys at school and how many of them have kissed a girl and what exactly leads up to that first kiss. While Merci is navigating all of these thoughts, she finds herself spending more time with a boy while she manages the school store during lunch, managing her complicated relationship with Edna - who is planning the annual Heart Ball, and navigating her grandfather's dementia, which only seems to be getting worse. Merci has a lot on her plate! When Merci is put in charge of the photo booth at the Heart Ball and some of the equipment gets damaged, Merci has to figure out how to handle this new challenge in her life.
I personally really enjoyed this next installment in Merci Suarez's story. I appreciate how genuine Merci is navigating a variety of problems at the same time: friends, family, school, romance, and figuring out what her values are. As someone who works with middle schoolers on a regular basis, I know there is a lot going on in the heads of my students. It was refreshing to see all of these worries and troubles laid out on the page in a very age appropriate manner. I appreciate that Merci tried to solve her problems herself (as many middle schoolers do) but it ended up not working out the way she intended (as things so often do). It's refreshing to see a new, diverse, voice in the world of middle grade lit. I am very excited to read the next part in Merci's middle school adventures ([b:Merci Suárez Plays It Cool|60540089|Merci Suárez Plays It Cool|Meg Medina|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655406083l/60540089._SX50_.jpg|95413484]). I love how each of these books follows a different year of Merci's middle school years, much like the [b:Front Desk|36127488|Front Desk (Front Desk, #1)|Kelly Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507986199l/36127488._SX50_.jpg|51903030] series.
TW: dementia, bullying, racism