Merci returns for another year of challenges and triumphs at home and at Seaward Pines Academy. Life is a little different for Merci Suárez in seventh grade. Her older brother, Roli, is off at college; her grandfather Lolo's Alzheimer's is more pronounced; and she has to regularly babysit her Tía Inés' spirited young twins. Merci is also assigned to manage the school store with math whiz Wilson Bellevue, a quiet classmate who she realizes is not obnoxious like other boys. When Merci and Wilson are expected to sell tickets to the Valentine's Day Heart Ball, she must interact with a slightly-less-mean Edna Santos, who's running the dance and unexpectedly getting closer to Hannah, one of Merci's best friends. Medina continues to tenderly explore issues such as multigenerational immigrant family dynamics, managing the responsibilities of home and school, and learning how to navigate changing friendships and first crushes. Merci's maturity and growth are as engaging and compelling as they were in the author's Newbery Medal winner, Merci Suárez Changes Gears (2018). The cast is broadly diverse; Merci and her family are Cuban American, Edna is Dominican, and Creole and Cajun Wilson has a physical disability. An uplifting sequel told with heart and humor. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 4--7--Now in seventh grade, Merci Suárez finds that a new school year means new responsibilities and challenges. Merci has been enlisted to work in the school store alongside her classmate Wilson, who she might have a crush on, and is still at odds with classmate Edna, who is planning the Heart Ball and maybe stealing one of Merci's best friends. At home, Merci feels unprepared for the changes in her family: Her grandfather's Alzheimer's is worsening, and Tía Inez has started dating. At heart, Merci remains true to the character readers met in Merci Suárez Changes Gears and has grown alongside her readership. However, seventh grade Merci is not without her flaws. She and Edna still don't get along, and she spies on Tía Inez even when she isn't supposed to. When Merci is roped into running a photography booth at the Heart Ball and the equipment breaks, she tries to solve the problem herself instead of telling an adult. The struggles with friendships, responsibility, school, crushes, and jealousy that Merci and her friends face will strike a chord with many readers. A subplot about Tía Inez keeping dance classes alive for neighborhood kids who have nowhere to go after school serves as a subtle reminder of Merci's Cuban American heritage and the socioeconomic status of families in Merci's neighborhood versus at school. The plot moves along at a consistent and page-turning pace, and as usual Medina's characters are excellently written and developed. Medina also touches on racism and how shared cultural heritage can bring people together unexpectedly. VERDICT Fans of Merci Suárez Changes Gears will love watching how Merci and those around her grow. This sequel doesn't disappoint and is an essential purchase for all collections.--Liz Anderson, DC P.L.

Newbery Medalist Medina artfully chronicles another year of highs and lows in the life of Cuban American middle schooler Merci Suárez via this winning sequel to Merci Suárez Changes Gears. Now a seventh grader, 12-year-old Merci has taken on more responsibilities at home and at school, including caring for her beloved grandfather, Lolo, as his Alzheimer's advances, and managing the school store with her classmate, "human calculator" Wilson Bellevue, a quiet Cajun and Creole boy who wears a foot brace. But when Miss McDaniels drafts the entrepreneurial Merci to sell tickets for the Heart Ball--and cooperate with her former nemesis, Edna Santos--Merci must learn to step outside her comfort zone and onto the dance floor. Medina continues to build on the stellar character work of the first book, balancing laugh-out-loud one-liners ("Buy a Heart Ball ticket if you have absolutely nothing better to do in this sad life") with vulnerability ("People... vanish, sometimes a little at a time. One day Lolo won't know how to move his legs. One day soon, he won't be able to dance"). This is a sequel of the finest quality, perfectly capturing the feelings of awkward first crushes ("Did he say I look nice? Or did he say I look like a rodent? I can't decide") and evolving friendships. Ages 9--12. Agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)

In this sequel to the Newbery-winning Merci Suárez Changes Gears (2018), 12-year-old Merci takes on growing responsibilities both within her family and as a seventh-grader. With her brother Roli away at college, she is now seen as the oldest child and often finds herself taking care of her younger cousins while Tía Inés is working, and Merci also struggles to come to terms with the way Alzheimer's affects her beloved grandpa Lolo. At school, after an unexpected accident at the Hearts Ball--and after working together with friends, new and old, to promote her tía's new dance studio--Merci and her friends come together to show Seaward Pines the beauty of other cultures, and she discovers a strength within her that, together with the love and support of friends and family, assures her everything will be OK. Filled with the familiar, laugh-out-loud humor from the first title, this sequel will quickly pull readers, both returning and new, into Merci's world. The struggles and worries that occupy her thoughts--from seeing the changes in Lolo to losing her tía Inés and the new, uncertain feelings she might be having for a fellow classmate--will all be relatable to readers young and old. Fans of Merci will root for her as they are immersed in her vibrant world full of unique characters and heartfelt surprises.

Merci navigates the troubles of home and seventh grade -- and the gap between the two -- with her irresistible combination of spirit and heart in this follow-up to the Newbery-winning Merci Suarez Changes Gears (rev. 9/18). Though she seems more self-assured these days, Merci resents the many changes taking place around her: her brother Roli away at college, Lolo's deteriorating condition, -Hannah's growing friendship with Merci's archenemy, and the growing confusion surrounding new friend Wilson. At the annual "Heart Ball" school dance, Merci only wants to participate from the place she has the most confidence and control -- behind the camera -- but even that goes awry. Vibrant and insightful, the novel explores the complexities of friendship and family as well as first romance. All the while, Merci stays busy getting herself into trouble and finding her way out of it again. Her relationships at school strengthen, to mirror the bonds she has with her family at home, and when school and home lives merge, Merci discovers the best way to manage change is with a bit of bravery, a welcoming attitude, and people you trust. And by the end of this funny, heartwarming book, Merci does dance -- with family and friends, on an intimidating stage at her exclusive private school in the first performance of the new Suarez School of Latin Dance. Julie Roach May/June 2021 p.137(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.