Meg Medina

Merci Suarez lives with her close-knit family in Florida, is starting sixth grade, and is excited to save up for a bike and try out for soccer. Dealing with the complexities of school, friends, and family at that age can be tough. She is one of the "Sunshine Buddies" to new kids at school, and when she's paired up with a boy she draws the jealousy of a mean popular girl who decides she likes the boy. But more scarily, her grandfather Lolo doesn't seem to be his old self, falling from a bike show more and getting forgetful.

The way in which the author was able to get into the head of a kid that age reminded me a lot of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, where as a kid you read it one way and relate so much to the protagonist's point of view, but as an adult with an understanding of what's going on beyond the kid protagonist, you have a totally different perspective. That's what reading this was like for me, because what was happening to Lolo is apparent very early on, only Merci doesn't know. And man, some of those middle school shenanigans were so accurate it was painful to read. But it's also a book I'd love to share with a kid the right age, read to my niece in a few years, for example. Dealing with serious issues in a hopeful way and deftly exploring family and friendship, this book won the Newbery Award last year and I think is one that will resonate with young readers. show less

Piddy Sanchez isn't happy about having to switch high schools in tenth grade - and she's even less happy when she's informed that "Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass." Piddy doesn't know Yaqui, but that doesn't matter: Yaqui's after her. Piddy doesn't want to fight, but Yaqui finds her anyway, and Piddy is afraid to go back to school. Absences pile up as Piddy tries to figure out what to do. Her old friend Mitzi moved from their Queens neighborhood to Long Island and is swept up in her new show more school life with new friends; Piddy tells her mother's best friend Lila some of what's going on, but swears her to secrecy. Finally, the bullying comes to the school administration's attention via the anonymous reporting box.

Quotes

"Nobody gets happy the same way. That's what's interesting." (Lila to Piddy re: telenovelas, 49)

A lot of the salon women tell me this: "You've become a woman." None of them ever sounds too happy about it. (63)

"When do I get to know the story of my own life?" (Piddy to Lila, re: her missing father, 67)

I don't even know I'm in big trouble until it has swallowed me whole. (71)

I've never been so mean to her, but now all I want is to make her feel small. I need her company down here at the bottom of this pit, where maybe she can hug me and tell me it's all right. (83)

Talking about a secret is like finding a way out of a cave, isn't it? You can't be sure whether you're going deeper in or climbing free. (236)

I've been thinking lately that growing up is like walking through glass doors that only open one way - you can see where you came from but can't go back. (255) show less

Let me be honest: I put off reading this book for a long, long time. Why? I loved Merci Suárez Changes Gears so much, and I am always disappointed with sequels. I just didn't want to be disappointed.

Maybe I'm not always disappointed with sequels. The truth is that Meg Medina did a fabulous job with this sequel. Merci Suárez Can't Dance equals or, maybe, even exceeds Merci Suárez Changes Gears.

Of course there are the same great characters from book #1, but these characters, like all good show more characters, are continuing to change, are evolving, growing, facing new challenges, struggling, sometimes slipping and doing the wrong thing, and finally moving forward despite the terrible consequences of doing so.

I'm so glad I read this new book about Merci. Frankly, I'd welcome another sequel about this wonderful group of people, and I never thought I'd say that. show less

Graciela dies young, and wakes a hundred years later to find herself an ocean spirit. She sticks close to her guide, Amina, who becomes a surrogate sister to her, but Graciela dreads the day Amina joins the Almas and leaves her - so when the message for Amina comes, Graciela hides it.

On land, Jorge Leon, the son of the surly town blacksmith, loves to make delicate, creative toys; his parents don't approve. When he finds a cursed harpoon made by an ancestor, he tries to destroy it, but his show more parents decide it's time to use it to capture sea spirits and steal their pearl teeth to become rich.

When Jorge ends up in the ocean, Amina uses bottled last breaths to keep him alive, and Graciela reluctantly befriends him as they join forces to defeat the Needlers, and attempt to destroy the harpoon once and for all.

Quotes

Suffering was strange that way. It didn't have to be your own for it to hurt. (28)

[Jorge] had never been able to trust his parents, but his inner voice had never let him down. (52)

The most exciting part of solving a puzzle was always when you could sense the solution nearby but just out of reach. It's what kept you at it. (77)

[Papa's] beliefs had grown over his eyes and closed them forever. (158)

Maybe nothing was ever certain. Maybe you had to have courage to go forward anyway. (168)

Even the hardest puzzle was solved one piece at a time. (185)

This was the curse of the living....No one really knew how much time was left to do anything. You just had to ignore that idea and move on. (189)

You could exist only caring for yourself, but it wasn't enough. It was by loving and caring for others, too, that you truly lived. (226)

There was a joy in remaking what the world discarded into something new. (236) show less