For the preteen grappling with fitting in, balancing family expectations, and figuring out who they are while navigating the complexities of middle school friendships.
A parent might reach for this book when their middle schooler is feeling the intense pressure to fit in while also navigating complex and worrying situations at home. It follows seventh-grader Merci Suarez as she tries to 'play it cool' with new friends and a new crush, all while her beloved grandfather's Alzheimer's is getting worse. This heartfelt and often funny story explores themes of identity, family loyalty, and the anxiety of change. Perfect for readers 10-14, it beautifully captures the awkwardness of being a preteen and normalizes the challenge of balancing peer relationships with deep family responsibilities, offering a powerful message about finding strength in being your true self.
The book deals directly with a grandparent’s progressive cognitive decline from Alzheimer’s. The approach is secular and realistic, portraying the family's love, frustration, and grief with immense empathy. The narrative does not offer a cure or an easy fix. The resolution is realistic and hopeful: the family’s situation remains difficult, but they find new ways to connect and support each other, and Merci learns to accept the reality of Lolo's illness without losing her love for him.
Ideal Reader
A thoughtful 10 to 13-year-old who feels caught between the pressures of their social world and the deep, often private, responsibilities of their family life. It’s for the child who is starting to understand adult problems, like illness or financial stress, and feels the weight of it on their own shoulders. It will resonate strongly with kids who feel like they have to hide a part of themselves to fit in.
Parent Prep
The book can be read cold, as Medina handles the topic of Alzheimer’s with great care. However, a parent might want to preview the scenes where Lolo’s memory loss is most pronounced (e.g., when he gets confused at a school event). These moments are written honestly and could be a gentle entry point for a conversation about aging, memory loss, and how families cope with illness. A parent notices their child seems increasingly stressed or secretive, trying to manage friendships while being intensely protective of their family. The parent might hear their child say, “You just don’t get it,” or see them struggle with inviting friends over because of a complex situation at home (like an ill relative).
Age Experience
A 10-year-old will likely connect most with the friendship drama, the humor, and the sweet first crush. They will feel the sadness about Lolo but may focus more on the external plot points. A 13 or 14-year-old will grasp the deeper emotional nuances: Merci's internal conflict, the socioeconomic tensions of being a scholarship student, and the profound challenge of grieving for someone who is still physically present.
What Makes It Special
Among many middle school stories, this book's unique strength is its seamless blend of laugh-out-loud seventh-grade awkwardness with the profound, quiet grief of a loved one’s cognitive decline. The vibrant, specific portrayal of a multigenerational Cuban American family provides a rich cultural context that makes the universal themes of love, loss, and identity feel fresh and deeply authentic.
Read plot summary
Merci Suarez, now in seventh grade, is determined to finally fit in at her private school, Seaward Pines. This means navigating shifting friendships, dealing with popular kids, and figuring out her feelings for a new student, Wilson. Her attempts to 'play it cool' are constantly complicated by her home life, where her close-knit Cuban American family is struggling to cope with her grandfather Lolo’s worsening Alzheimer’s disease. Merci feels the weight of her family's unspoken rule to not cause more worry, forcing her to hide her home reality from her school friends, leading to humorous and heart-wrenching conflicts.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.
Discussion Prompts
1
Merci feels like she has to be two different people: 'School Merci' and 'Home Merci.' Have you ever felt that way? Why do you think it was so hard for her to let her new friends see what her family life was really like?
2
The title is 'Merci Suarez Plays It Cool.' What does 'playing it cool' mean to Merci at the beginning of the story versus at the end? In what ways did she succeed or fail at this, and what did she learn?
3
Merci's family tries to protect each other by not talking about their worries. Do you think this was helpful or harmful for Merci? How did her feelings change after she finally talked to her Mami about Lolo?
4
Friendships change a lot in the book, especially between Merci and Hannah. Why do you think their friendship started to drift apart? What does a true friend look like by the end of the story?
