Merci Suarez Changes Gears

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, 355 pages

“Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between.”  I loved Merci, the book and the character.  She is fantastic, very real and immensely likable.  This is a great read for kids who like realistic fiction.

Friend or Foe

Friend or Foe by Patrick Jones, 112 pages

This is definitely a teen book for reluctant readers.  This book has a lot of action packed into a short book and tends to keep the vocabulary fairly simple.  Ian is bitter that his best friend, Orlando, seems to prefer a new friend, Chase, to him.  When the group ends up in a scuffle that ends with the police being called, Orlando is held longer than anyone because he is African American.  Ian sees his chance to get even with Orlando and Chase. He sets up situations to make several people believe that Chase is making bad decisions and to make Orlando think that Chase is spending time with Orlando's girlfriend, Destiny.  I was surprised that everything ended the way that it did.  I'm not sure I would want to read many more books from the Unbarred series, but I will definitely remember them for reluctant readers.