Eleven-year-old Merci lives in South Florida with her parents, big brother, aunt, twin little cousins, and grandparents, who came from Cuba, in three small pink houses that they call “Las Casitas.” Merci sleeps at her parent’s home but the rest of her time is divided between the three houses, visiting, playing, babysitting, and eating delicious meals and snacks. Merci spends much of her free time with her grandfather, Lolo.

Merci and her brother have scholarships to a private school where the student’s privileged lives are very different from Merci’s and her family. Her brother, who is a brain, has made a place for himself at Seaward Pines Academy with his excellent grades and winning science projects, but Merci is struggling to fit in. Her grades aren’t great, and she is the target of constant belittling from leader-of-the-pack and mean girl, Edna. Merci’s relationship with Edna goes from bad to worse when she is selected to be the Sunshine Buddy of new student, Michael Clark, the boy Edna likes.

Merci could always turn to Lolo for reassurance and advice, but recently, her grandfather has been behaving strangely. He is forgetful and sometimes looses his temper. Merci thinks something is wrong, but nobody in her family is talking. Now Lolo can’t be left alone. Abuela must watch over him and all of the chores, like cooking and babysitting, that her grandparents did have been reassigned to Merci and the other family members.

Merci juggles the challenges of school and changes at home while Lolo gets worse. Finally she learns Lolo has Alzheimer’s, a brain disease that will change her grandfather forever. Although Lolo’s future is uncertain, Merci is comforted in knowing that she and her family will face it together.

Merci Suárez is a sympathetic character who feels deeply and draws the reader into her life and world. As she tackles problems at home and at school, Merci’s life lessons enrich us all. Visit Meg Medina’s website at: https://megmedina.com/