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alenka 's review for:
Merci Suárez Can't Dance
by Meg Medina
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Disclaimer: I have not read the first Merci Suarez book, but I got through this just fine and I LOVED it! Merci has such a unique voice! She's a tough tomboy of a kid who's not afraid of most things difficult or dirty. She likes soccer and sports and will some day be an intense businessperson - I loved the bits about reading Peterson's Guide to Business (I might have that title a bit wrong) and using the negotiation tactics from it to deal with her assistant principal. One of Merci's greatest struggles in the story is renegotiating her interactions with the adults in her life. She has lots of questions she wants answered, about relationships and kissing especially but other complicated, growing-up things as well. Of course, those are the hardest questions to ask, and the adults aren't totally forthcoming with those specific answers because it's an awkward thing to talk about! (I think Ines would answer if Merci asked, though.) When things get awkward, Merci responds in a very Merci way - she toughens up and runs away to do something familiar, like sports, photography, playing with the twins. As a reader, I felt confident that Merci would find the answers in her own time and in her own way, especially as she got more comfortable opening up to her aunt and friends about difficult things, like crushes.
Merci's grandfather's dementia was really well handled - it's so, so hard to watch an older person that you lose themself. We don't just grieve when someone dies, we grieve when we start to lose them to illness, and we rarely talk about that experience. Especially with Roli gone and her parents and aunt so overworked, Merci feels like she has to step up and try to be one of the adults. It's a hard place to be - in the scene where she jumps on the bed and plays with the twins in earnest, we really remember that Merci is still a kid. She's certainly capable of taking on the responsibilities given to her (running the school store, taking photos at the dance, watching her cousins) but that doesn't mean she's ready for a life of pure responsibility. The moment when she and Wilson spell the alphabet with their toes and then scramble to hide so they won't be seen playing is also really bittersweet. They're not embarrassed because it looks like they are flirting, or being romantic - they're embarrassed because they are being kids, and they're at an age when that impulse to play is being ground out of them.
There is so much more here - Ines taking hold of her life and giving back to the community with dance, Merci navigating racism at school (the scene near the end when she confronts Miss McDaniels and stands up for Edna!!) and learning to see eye-to-eye with Edna, etc. - and it's all so well done. Medina has beautifully captured a unique moment of growing up in this book, and she's given Merci such an endearing, unique voice. I have to read the first book, now! And I hope there's another in the works.
Merci's grandfather's dementia was really well handled - it's so, so hard to watch an older person that you lose themself. We don't just grieve when someone dies, we grieve when we start to lose them to illness, and we rarely talk about that experience. Especially with Roli gone and her parents and aunt so overworked, Merci feels like she has to step up and try to be one of the adults. It's a hard place to be - in the scene where she jumps on the bed and plays with the twins in earnest, we really remember that Merci is still a kid. She's certainly capable of taking on the responsibilities given to her (running the school store, taking photos at the dance, watching her cousins) but that doesn't mean she's ready for a life of pure responsibility. The moment when she and Wilson spell the alphabet with their toes and then scramble to hide so they won't be seen playing is also really bittersweet. They're not embarrassed because it looks like they are flirting, or being romantic - they're embarrassed because they are being kids, and they're at an age when that impulse to play is being ground out of them.
There is so much more here - Ines taking hold of her life and giving back to the community with dance, Merci navigating racism at school (the scene near the end when she confronts Miss McDaniels and stands up for Edna!!) and learning to see eye-to-eye with Edna, etc. - and it's all so well done. Medina has beautifully captured a unique moment of growing up in this book, and she's given Merci such an endearing, unique voice. I have to read the first book, now! And I hope there's another in the works.