It's when the book starts to feel real somehow. It's always exciting to get to this stage, of course. It's hard to let go of old friends, even imaginary ones. It's no wonder that I'm sad about ending their story. The characters and their journeys have become so real to me. By the time Merci Suárez Plays It Cool publishes next fall, I will have been writing the Suárez family and the world of Seaward Pines Academy, in one form or another, for six years. I think it has to do with grieving a magical time - as that is what the "Merciverse" has been for me. I find myself coming to the task with the same mix of emotions I had about coming back home. But now I'm back, and it's time to face copyeditor revisions on what will be the final Merci Suárez book. As everyone headed back to school, we made the trek to North Carolina where I spent my time shelling, reading, and biking.
Last week, my family and I escaped to the beach for a much-anticipated vacation on Emerald Isle. I still have sand stuck in the hinges of my sunglasses, and I'm feeling a little blue. They're in your class, at your church, on your soccer team, living on your block. I hope you’ll take a little time this month to reflect on the people in our communities who are facing this as-yet incurable illness as well as the 11 million people – including kids - who love and support them. It's palpable, page to page, and I know that in the book, as in life, the reality of a person's decline is at times overwhelming. But lurking in the background is Lolo’s illness. Still, when I book-talk the story with readers, I almost always lean heavily into Merci’s hijinks with friends and foes, in other words, the funny parts. I’ve done my best to capture all of it as honestly as possible in the pages. The Merci Suárez trilogy is, of course, set in the world of a girl coping with middle school life as well as with her grandfather’s accelerating illness. It's available in Spanish, too, important since 15% of Hispanics ages 65 and older are diagnosed with the disease. First, here’s a pretty comprehensive article from the National Institute on Health on the topic if you're working with kids in this situation. But it’s also Alzheimer’s Awareness month, and I want to give some space here to kids and families who are in the midst of it. It’s November – time to plan turkey day with our families. The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth.Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora.Merci Suárez no sabe bailar, translated by Alexis Romay.Merci Suárez se pone las pilas, translated by Alexis Romay.
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