Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-14

Chapters 15-17

Chapters 18-25

Chapters 26-31

Chapters 32-38

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Class Differences in America

Throughout the novel, Merci struggles with her socioeconomic status at Seaward Pines. As a scholarship student, she must complete 60 hours of unpaid labor for the school every year. She cannot spend money as lavishly as her peers do—even on mundane things, such as school portraits. Her father reminds her that she must be more virtuous and forgiving than her peers because they pay their tuition, and she does not. At numerous times throughout the narrative, Merci fibs to her classmates to compensate for the stigmatization she feels as a person from a lower socioeconomic class, or to cover her ignorance to the things that those in higher socioeconomic classes take for granted. Through this dynamic, Medina paints a portrait of the ways that America’s class-stratified society impacts a child’s life in both every day and intimate ways. Through her treatment of the complexities of Merci’s experiences, Medina paints a detailed portrait of the social and psychological impact of class oppression.

The Anguish and Complexity of Alzheimer’s Disease

A major plot device in Merci Suárez Changes Gears is Lolo’s decision to keep Merci in the dark about his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As a result of Lolo’s wishes, the entire family keeps the reality of Lolo’s disease a secret from Merci. As a result, Merci struggles to understand what is happening in the life of her family and in Lolo’s life for much of the narrative. She also feels greatly disrespected and lied to. On a narrative level, Lolo’s disease is therefore addressed and depicted by Medina through suggestion, the selection of important details, and foreshadowing. These elements add to Medina’s illustration of the anguish and disorientation that Alzheimer’s brings to Lolo and all of the Suárez family members. Through this depiction, Medina weaves a portrait of a family struggling to deal with the seriousness and terminality of the illness. More importantly, the book depicts a child’s experience of this adult topic: Merci simply has no other choice but to eventually confront Lolo’s disease. In so doing, Medina confronts the harsh reality of the disease and parses all of the complex emotions and circumstances that Merci must navigate as a child.

Coming of Age as a Tween

Merci Suárez Changes Gears depicts Merci’s experience during her first year as a middle schooler. Merci struggles with having separate teachers for each subject, rather than one teacher for the entire school day. She misses the nurturing stability that characterized her primary education and sometimes longs to still be treated as a child with fewer responsibilities and more adult guidance to lean on. Simultaneously, she bucks against the restrictions that are placed upon her by her parents, aunt, and grandparents as she yearns to carve out her own identity. Merci also struggles to understand her own growing sense of her sexuality, and her developing body. She learns to navigate the complicated social structure of Seaward Pines through her relationship to the prototypical mean girl Edna. Merci also struggles with the unique class position foisted upon her by her scholarship student status at Seaward Pines while simultaneously coming to terms with the reality of Lolo’s disease and its impacts on herself and her family.

Medina therefore parses the complexity of Merci’s life—on an emotional, psychological, and social level. All these elements are a part of Merci’s coming-of-age journey as a tween. Medina depicts Merci as an intelligent, compassionate, sensitive, and strong individual, who learns from her mistakes, finds true friendship, courageously faces her grandfather’s disease, and functions as an irreplaceable member of her loving family. By the end of the narrative, through both her own personal grit and the loving support of those around her, Merci emerges from the mighty struggles of her eleventh year of life as a thriving and mature individual. Through this depiction, Medina forms the message that coming of age as a tween comes with unique and complicated struggles, which can be overcome and learned from when a tween is both supported and allowed to make mistakes in order to grow.