Skip to main content

Merci Suárez Changes Gears Read Alikes

Image
By

In January of 2019 Meg Medina won the Newbery Medal for her novel Merci Suárez Changes Gears. It is a great book with loveable Merci who is trying to navigate life: school, her family, and her bicycle. Many readers have loved this book—with good reason. If you are one of those readers who are looking for good books similar to Merci Suárez, here are some other great books for you to try. Enjoy! 


By Adrianna Cuevas 
Farrar, Straus, Giroux for Young Readers, 2021. Fiction. 275 p. 

This is a historical fiction about 12-year-old Cumba who is sent to Maiami from Cuba when life is getting a little sticky with Fidel Castro’s new government. Cumba has to live with a new family in the United States and figure out life and school in a new environment. Cumba is also one of those characters who readers will root for even after the book ends. If you want a good story with a lot of heart, this is your next book to read. 


By Lisa Yee 
Random House Children’s Books, 2022. Fiction. 276 p. 

Maizy Chen and her mom have taken a summer trip to Last Chance, Minnesota to visit Maizy’s estranged grandparents. Maizy’s grandpa is sick, so even though Maizy sometimes wishes she were at home in California, she also is glad to be spending time with her family. With some signs of discrimination around and some family history to learn about, Maizy has her hands full trying to connect her past to her present. Readers who love seeing family relationships blossom as well as a spunky tween who is not willing to let a grandpa’s old grudge keep him from a friend (or a hot dog) will devour this great book. 


By Aisha Saeed 
Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2022. Fiction. 216 p. 

This book opens with Omar just about to head off to an elite boarding school on a scholarship. However, Omar soon realizes that the requirements of all the scholarship students are far more unreasonable than the requirements for all the other students at the school—which is hard for Omar who comes from a small Pakistani village and hasn’t ever had to write a proper essay. Kids who love underdogs (or soccer—Omar’s favorite sport) will root for Omar and his fellow scholarship friends. 


By Emma Otheguy 
Alfred A. Knopf, 2022. Fiction. 281 p. 

Sofía Acosta is the middle child of two ballet prodigies. Also, her older sister and younger brother are starting to follow in their parent’s ballet footsteps. Sofía tries her best, but she would rather spend time daydreaming about what lace to put on the costumes than practice the march step for Nutcracker’s party scene. This story is all about trying to find your own place to fit in, even when it seems like everyone else in your family stands out. Readers who love drama, dancing, and a strong sense of family (both regular family and the family of a dance troop), will race through Sofía’s story. 


By Naomi Shihab Nye 
Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2022. Fiction. 325 p. 

Aref is excited to move to Michigan with his parents who are going to school in Ann Arbor for the next three years—although he does miss his grandpa (Sidi) who is still in Oman. Aref goes to school, makes friends, sees snow for the first time, and enjoys watching the many different species of turtles (his favorite animal) in his new home. Readers who want to read about a kid that everyone would want for a best friend and who has a strong sense of wonder and appreciation will love reading this gentle story.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Alice with a Why

By
Alice with a Why By Anna James New York: Penguin, 2026. Fiction. 240 pgs. In 1919, in the aftermath of the first World War, Alyce is living with her grandmother in the English countryside. Her grandmother, also named Alice, tells Alyce (with a y) stories from her childhood adventures in a wonderful land filled with white rabbits and mad hatters. Alyce doesn't really believe the silly stories, she just misses her father who was killed in the war. One day, Alyce receives a mysterious invitation to tea, and subsequently falls into a pond where she is transported to Wonderland. Her grandmother, of course, is that Alice. Alyce is prompted by the Mad Hatter, Dormouse, and March Hare to seek out the Time Being and put an end to the war between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon. Thus begins Alyce's adventure through Wonderland. I have a certain soft spot for the original story of Alice in Wonderland. It is one of my particular favorites and I often have a hard time reading new int...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Faker

By
Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...
Post a Comment
Read more