merci suarez changes gears by meg medina

Meg Medina is the author of the Newbery Medal-winning book “Merci Suárez Changes Gears,” which was followed by two more acclaimed books about the Suárez family: “Merci Suárez Can’t Dance” and “Merci Suárez Plays It Cool.” Her young adult novels include “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass,” which won the 2014 Pura Belpré Author Award and will be published in 2023 as a graphic novel illustrated by Mel Valentine Vargas “Burn Baby Burn,” which was long-listed for the National Book Award and “The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind.” She is also the author of picture books “Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away,” illustrated by Sonia Sánchez, Jumpstart’s 2020 Read for the Record selection “Mango, Abuela, and Me,” illustrated by Angela Dominguez and “Tía Isa Wants a Car,” illustrated by Claudio Muñoz, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award and the biography for young readers “She Persisted: Sonia Sotomayor.” The daughter of Cuban immigrants, she grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in Richmond, Virginia.

The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is an initiative of the Library of Congress, in partnership with Every Child a Reader External link, with generous support from The Library of Congress James Madison Council, The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation and Dollar General Literacy Foundation External link. Meg Medina, the 2023-2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is the eighth writer to hold this position. The plot takes a few chapters to get moving, but by the end of the book, Merci and her family feel like friends and neighbors.Meg Medina, 2023-2024 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. The 'Gilda' crackers, the Noche-buena Christmas Eve traditions, the delicious food her abuela cooks, and most of all, the closeness that defines many immigrant families. Sure, she shares a room with her brother and is obligated to watch her twin cousins after school, but the pride she takes in playing on her Papi's soccer team, and the loving relationship she shares with her grandfather, Lolo, are priceless.Īuthor Meg Medina immerses Merci Suárez Changes Gears in a culture that many readers might not be intimately familiar with. What Merci has that those kids might not is a rich family tradition that's so woven into her core values that she's unaware of how lucky she is. Her place in the social pecking order isn't quite secure, and the girls she thought were her friends show flashes of brilliant charm and stunning cruelty in the blink of an eye. Kids will relate to the OMG-so-awkward moments that Merci suffers in sixth grade.

Fascinating in its depiction of Cuban American culture, this optimistic story portrays immigrant life in South Florida.

Merci suarez changes gears by meg medina