Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Seaward Pines Academy (Chapter 1)

2. Her abuela/her grandmother (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

1. Edna comments that Merci should not worry about how her pictures come out because it is likely her family did not buy a big picture package. This is meant to target two things Merci is insecure about: her amblyopic eye and her family’s relative poverty. (Chapter 1)

2. When Lolo went to pick up his twin grandsons from school, he tried to bring the wrong set of twins home. (Chapter 2)

Chapters 3-5

Reading Check

1. Sunshine Buddies (Chapter 3)

2. El Caribe (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. She is assigned to Michael Clark, and Edna teases her about being assigned a male Sunshine Buddy. (Chapter 3)

2. Merci wants to use cloth and buttons to make the map, but Edna insists that they use clay. (Chapter 5)

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Manny Cruz (Chapter 7)

2. The movies (Chapter 8)

Short Answer

1. Lolo falls from his bike, and he asks Merci not to tell anyone about it—especially Abuela. (Chapter 6)

2. Jamie asks Merci to pass a note to Michael. Later, Merci learns that the note says that Edna is romantically interested in Michael. (Chapter 9)

Chapters 11-14

Reading Check

1. Operation (Chapter 11)

2. Food/their lunches (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

1. It is likely that people treat her and her family with suspicion because of their race and class, but Merci wonders if it is because she does not look serious enough. (Chapter 12)

2. Her mother tells her that she will not be able to try out for the school soccer team because the family cannot pick her up from practice or spare her help with the twins after school. (Chapter 13)

Chapters 15-17

Reading Check

1. Because she is on scholarship (Chapter 15)

2. Lolo’s glasses (Chapter 16)

Short Answer

1. She wants to leave the club, but she wants to leave on her own terms, not because she was kicked out. (Chapter 15)

2. He advises her not to accidentally insult Lena by saying that her new haircut makes her forehead look smaller. (Chapter 17)

Chapters 18-25

Reading Check

1. Help with his costume (Chapter 20)

2. Edna (Chapter 23)

Short Answer

1. Lolo refuses to go to Grand’s Day at Merci’s school, and he becomes aggressive when the family tries to reason with him. (Chapter 18)

2. Roli takes Lolo away to play dominoes, which is Lolo’s favorite game, so that Lolo does not do anything frightening or embarrassing. (Chapter 21)

Chapters 26-31

Reading Check

1. Sea lice (Chapter 29)

2. Tía Inés/her aunt (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. The siblings see their grandfather wandering in the median of the road, and Roli has to cross lanes of traffic to get to Lolo. As he crosses, a car hits them from behind. (Chapter 26)

2. Lolo made them promise not to tell her until they had to. He wanted the two of them to be able to enjoy their remaining time together without worrying and being sad. (Chapter 28)

Chapters 32-38

Reading Check

1. Miss McDaniels (Chapter 32)

2. Merci’s house (Chapter 35)

Short Answer

1. Miss McDaniels has the hall and tardy passes she gave both girls on the day the mask was destroyed. She also has security footage that shows Edna and Jamie were the only ones who could have done it. (Chapter 34)

2. She wants to organize a club of students to visit the elder care facility so that the residents have more opportunities to socialize. (Chapter 36)