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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSEleven-year-old Merci Suárez is starting sixth grade at Seaward Pines Academy, a private school in Florida where she and her brother attend on scholarship. Life at Las Casitas, the three pink houses where her Cuban American family all live side by side, has always been her anchor, especially her close bond with her grandfather Lolo. But this fall, things feel off. Lolo recently picked up the wrong twins at school and can't explain why, he fell off his bike on their Sunday ride and made Merci promise to keep it secret, and the adults keep having hushed conversations they won't let her hear. At school, Merci is stuck as a Sunshine Buddy to a new boy from Minnesota named Michael Clark, her class rival Edna Santos seems determined to make her life miserable, and she's been shut out of soccer tryouts because the family needs her home. As friendships and loyalties shift and the mysteries around Lolo grow harder to ignore, Merci has to figure out how to be brave when the things she loves most are changing beyond her control.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Merci Suárez Changes Gears
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Merci Suárez Changes Gears. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a girl lead classmates on a forbidden maintenance shortcut on picture day?
✓ Answer
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
On her first day of sixth grade, Merci convinces the girls to take a path marked for maintenance crews only so they won't sweat through their portraits. The shortcut backfires when they end up surrounded by towering older students in the gym.
- First half
In what book does a grandfather wander away at the beach to watch men hook a barracuda?
✓ Answer
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
While Merci and her papi are painting at the casino building, Lolo disappears. Merci finds his shoe washed up in the surf and panics, only to discover him on the pier watching anglers reel in a huge silver barracuda. He then calls her by his daughter's name and mentions a brother who drowned decades ago.
- First half
In what book does a mother refuse to sign a soccer permission slip because the family needs babysitting?
✓ Answer
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Mami quietly refuses to sign Merci's soccer tryout form because the family needs her at home after school. The decision crushes Merci, who practiced all summer and is told to stick to playing with her dad's team, and adds to her growing resentment toward her cousins and her family's expectations.
- Second half
In what book does a science nerd brother lecture a new boy about lake algae that smells like farts?
✓ Answer
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
While stuck at a drawbridge with Michael Clark in the car, Roli launches into a lecture about fertilizer runoff into Lake Okeechobee and the algae that closes Florida beaches. He calmly explains the slime can double its biomass in a day. Merci has to kick the back of his seat to shut him up before Michael's head explodes.
- Second half
In what book does a classmate dance her oral report, intoning "I am the sky over the whole world"?
✓ Answer
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Lena plays the Egyptian goddess Nut and uses flute music from her phone to move slowly through an interpretive dance, bending forward with her hips jutting high. Ms. Tannenbaum is amazed and calls it brilliant. Lena answers simply that everyone is a dancer, a quiet remark that sticks with Merci.
- Near the end
In what book does a family eat cut grapefruit sprinkled with sugar to start their Thanksgiving meal?
✓ Answer
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Instead of turkey and stuffing, the family begins their holiday with grapefruits picked from the tree Papi planted when they bought their three houses. Abuela bakes four chickens, boils white rice, and Tía Inés makes coconut cookies. Roli adds his ongoing grudge against ruthless colonizers to the table talk.
