{"id":39279,"date":"2021-04-14T22:20:23","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T02:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39279"},"modified":"2021-04-14T22:20:23","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T02:20:23","slug":"review-of-merci-suarez-cant-dance-by-meg-medina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39279","title":{"rendered":"Review of Merci Su\u00e1rez Can\u2019t Dance, by Meg Medina"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Merci Su\u00e1rez Can\u2019t Dance<\/em><\/p>\n

by Meg Medina<\/p>\n

Candlewick Press, 2021. 372 pages.
\nReview written April 13, 2021, from an advance reader copy sent by the publisher
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Merci Su\u00e1rez is back! Now she\u2019s thirteen years old and in seventh grade, having navigated everything life threw at her in sixth grade in Merci Su\u00e1rez Changes Gears<\/a>.<\/em> I was super excited when I heard about it, because I was on the committee that chose the first Merci<\/em> book to win the 2019 Newbery Medal!<\/p>\n

Meg Medina is a master of her craft. Like the first book, it\u2019s not a flashy story, but good solid writing about a seventh-grade girl from a Cuban American family negotiating a school where most of the other kids are from richer families than hers, negotiating changes in her family, and figuring out this thing about how everyone around her seems suddenly interested in romance. By the time you\u2019re through the book, you realize Merci\u2019s been dealing with a whole host of issues with grace and nuance. You\u2019ll rejoice with her.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s up against her nemesis again, Edna Santos, but I like the way Edna isn\u2019t portrayed either as a simple bully or as someone who suddenly reforms and is shown to have a heart of gold. She\u2019s real \u2013 with some annoying traits that last, but Merci also discovers some good things about her.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a boy who comes into Merci\u2019s life at the beginning of the book, and her feelings about him are confusing. Here\u2019s how the book begins:<\/p>\n

It was Miss McDaniels\u2019s idea for me and Wilson Bellevue to work together in the Ram Depot, a job that nobody wants. For the record, I applied for an anchor spot on the morning announcements with my best friend Lena. But wouldn\u2019t you know it? Darius Ulmer\u2019s parents decided it was time he addressed his \u201cshyness issues,\u201d so he got the job instead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like the way Wilson, too, is presented as a real person. While the reader is pretty sure he\u2019s going to be important in Merci\u2019s thinking, we aren\u2019t told simply that he\u2019s good-looking, and Merci doesn\u2019t lose her ability to speak when he looks at her. Here\u2019s how he\u2019s described on the next page:<\/p>\n

I only knew him from PE and earth science, the quiet kid with freckles across his nose and reddish hair he wears natural. I had noticed his walk, too. He swings one hip forward so his right leg can clear the ground. He says it doesn\u2019t hurt or anything. He was born that way, he told us last year during one of those annoying icebreaker activities we\u2019re all subjected to on the first day of school. Anyway, we hadn\u2019t really talked much this year. The only other intel I had was that his family is Cajun and Creole from Louisiana. He told us that when he brought gumbo to the One World food festival when we were in the sixth grade, and it was pretty good, if you didn\u2019t mind breaking into a full-body sweat from the spices.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Merci and Wilson work well together in the student store, getting good ideas to make it start being profitable for a change.<\/p>\n

I thought the not dancing would be all about the Heart Ball, pictured on the cover, which is organized by Edna, and where Merci agrees to be the official photographer at the photo booth to get out of dancing. But that\u2019s halfway through the book. As things go on, her T\u00eda decides to open a dance studio, and she needs all the family to help make it a success. Can even Merci learn to dance?<\/p>\n

It was a treat to spend time with Merci again. Like the first, this is a solid school story \u2013 with lots of creativity and personality and nothing stereotypical. I can\u2019t help loving Merci, who\u2019s never going to fit into anyone else\u2019s mold.<\/p>\n

candlewick.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/merci_suarez_cant_dance.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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