Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences.

Today we are featuring Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina.

Because they are scholarship students, Merci and her older brother, Roli, are “different” from the other kids at their private school. Since they don’t have fancy cars or houses like the other students, they have to help to pay for their scholarships through community service. Merci is assigned to be the Sunshine Buddy for a new student, Michael. This upsets the most popular girl in her class, Edna, who has a crush on Michael and makes Merci her target.

Merci’s home life hasn’t been going so smoothly either. Her grandpa and number one confidant hasn’t been acting like himself. He’s forgetful and clumsy, and doesn’t ask Merci about her school life like he used to. Even worse is all the whispering and upset tempers at home. Merci’s family has always had a no secrets policy, but no one will tell her what’s going on. With all these worries at home and school, Merci feel more alone than she’s ever felt in her life.

Meg Medina’s beautiful coming-of-age story with deeply drawn characters is filled with Cuban-American culture and a glimpse at multigenerational home life. Merci’s close-knit and close-in-proximity family is complex and gloriously chaotic. The spotlight shines on her grandfather, Lolo, since he is dealing with significant issues related to the onset of Alzheimers. We see Lolo’s decline throughout the story along with the concern and significant stress on the family as everyone tries to adapt. Merci deeply loves her family, and her relationship with her grandfather is particularly close and sweet. Her honest insight in dealing with her problems is both funny and heartbreaking, but most importantly, even with the dramatic and scary changes in her school and home life, she remains true to herself.

Merci makes plenty of mistakes and is so honest and relatable you can’t help but root for her from page one in this deeply moving and engrossing story. In Merci Suárez Changes Gears, Meg Medina introduces us to a luminous Cuban-American girl, Merci Suárez, who will forever be in our hearts and reminds us of the deep meaning in small moments and gestures.

Merci Suárez Changes Gears gets my highest recommendation. It releases on September 11th and if you preorder from a local bookstore, Candlewick has a preorder campaign that includes a author hand-crafted bookmark, a sticker, and a bike bell.

You can also request Merci Suarez Changes Gears from your local library. Either way, just make sure you read it!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc of Merci Suarez Changes Gears in return for an honest review.

From Meg Medina’s website: Meg Medina is an award-winning Cuban American author who writes picture books, middle grade, and YA fiction.

Her most recent young adult novel, Burn Baby Burn, has earned numerous distinctions including being long listed for the 2016 National Book Award and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize. She is the 2016 recipient of the Pura Belpré honor medal for her picture book, Mango, Abuela and Me, and the 2014 Pura Belpré Award winner for her young adult novel, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, which was also the winner of the 2013 CYBILS Fiction award and the International Latino Book Award. Meg also earned the 2012 Ezra Jack Keats New Writers medal for her picture book Tía Isa Wants a Car. 

Meg’s other books are The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind , a 2012 Bank Street Best Book and CBI Recommended Read in the UK; and Milagros: Girl from Away. 

Meg’s work examines how cultures intersect, as seen through the eyes of young people. She brings to audiences stories that speak to both what is unique in Latino culture and to the qualities that are universal. Her favorite protagonists are strong girls.

In March 2014, she was recognized as one of the CNN 10 Visionary Women in America. In November 2014, she was named one of Latino Stories Top Ten Latino Authors to Watch.  In 2017, she was named, along with Gigi Amateau, to the Southerners of the Year list by Southern Living Magazine.

When she is not writing, Meg works on community projects that support girls, Latino youth and/or literacy. She lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia.

Meg discusses all her books on National Public Radio. Click here for Meg on NPR’s Virginia Currents.

You can also find Meg Medina on Twitter and Instagram.

Posted by Michelle Leonard.