Merci Suárez Plays It Cool

Ways to Grow Love: Ryan Hart

Mare's War

The Best Man

Prairie Evers

P.S. Be Eleven

The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It

The Girlfriend Project

Merci Suárez

In Meg Medina's follow-up to her Newbery Medal-winning novel, Merci takes on seventh grade, with all its travails of friendship, family, love--and finding your rhythm.

Seventh grade is going to be a real trial for Merci Suárez. For science she's got no-nonsense Mr. Ellis, who expects her to be a smart as her brother, Roli. She's been assigned to co-manage the tiny school store with Wilson Bellevue, a boy she barely knows, but whom she might actually like. And she's tangling again with classmate Edna Santos, who is bossier and more obnoxious than ever now that she is in charge of the annual Heart Ball.

One thing is for sure, though: Merci Suárez can't dance--not at the Heart Ball or anywhere else. Dancing makes her almost as queasy as love does, especially now that Tía Inés, her merengue-teaching aunt, has a new man in her life. Unfortunately, Merci can't seem to avoid love or dance for very long. She used to talk about everything with her grandfather, Lolo, but with his Alzheimer's getting worse each day, whom can she trust to help her make sense of all the new things happening in her life? The Suárez family is back in a touching, funny story about growing up and discovering love's many forms, including how we learn to love and believe in ourselves.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Merci Suárez Plays It Cool

Meg Medina, 2022

Ways to Grow Love: Ryan Hart

Renée Watson, Niña Mata, 2021

Mare's War

Tanita S. Davis, 2009

The Best Man

Richard Peck, 2016

Prairie Evers

Ellen Airgood, 2012

P.S. Be Eleven

Rita Williams-Garcia, 2013

The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It

Lisa Shanahan, 2006

The Girlfriend Project

Robin Friedman, 2007