A terrific new series by one of the best middle-grade writers around stars a two-mom, five-kid blended family formed in multiple ways and living by a lagoon on the Jersey Shore.
In Sam Makes a Splash (Algonquin), the cheery volume that starts the House on Sunrise Lagoon early-middle-grade series by Nicole Melleby, we meet the Ali-O’Connor family: Mom, Mama, Harbor, Sam (Samantha), Marina, and twins Cordelia and Lir, who live on the eponymous lagoon.
Eleven-year-old Sam is the only one of the siblings not named after the ocean—her moms adopted her from foster care three years ago, after she already had her name. She’s not the only adopted child in the family—Marina is, too, but although Marina is younger, Sam is the most recent addition. Sam is the same age as Harbor—less four months, which Sam thinks gives Harbor the edge in someday taking over Mom’s boat repair and chartering business. Sam is determined to show herself as a better choice, however, worthy of inheriting the business and proving herself a part of the family once and for all. Harbor, for her part, thinks she knows more about the family since she’s been in it longer, born to Mom in her previous marriage. (Let me be clear: Sam’s moms see her as being as much a part of the family as any of her siblings. Sam is still learning to understand this, however.)
One night, however, Sam overhears her parents talking about selling the business. She’s horrified, not only because she loves being on the boats with Mom, but because this threatens her chance to prove her place in the family. She needs to come up with a plan to save the business. But she just might have to enlist Harbor’s help to do so….
Melleby also recognizes (via a seemingly anti-gay neighbor) that a family with two moms is likely to face some bias and stigma. This is not the focus of the story, but is a part of many queer families’ experiences, so I’m glad Melleby doesn’t ignore it completely. The story feels (unfortunately) more authentic this way.
I’ll note, too, that this is the first time I can recall a middle-grade book being so clear about the varied gender expressions of a two-mom couple. “Mama was gay, too, but no one would know by looking at her,” the book says. “But with Mom, most people saw her and thought everything about her screamed it: from her short blond hair to her work boots to the old T-shirts she wore.” Not that all two-mom families vary this way, but those who do will feel seen here.
In the second volume, Marina in the Middle, the focus is on middle child Marina, who increasingly feels like the odd one out. Sam and Harbor are Mom’s favorites, Marina thinks, since they all love boats. After Marina’s adoption, Mama wanted the twins, born via donor conception, “more than anything,” so they must be her favorites. Marina thinks she’s no one’s favorite and often forgotten. She’s also experiencing a growing anxiety—about swimming, boats, and more, leading to panic attacks.
Then another 10-year-old, Boom, moves in across the lagoon. Boom is a budding filmmaker and wants to document Marina’s quest to become the favorite of someone in the family. Marina’s initial attempts to win special favor with different members of the family don’t go as planned, however, and eventually, a risk leads to disaster and their friendship is tested. Can Marina patch things up with Boom? And will she ever feel wanted in her family?
While Marina’s sense of her lack of favor is due in large part to her own misperceptions, Melleby also shows how assumptions and oversights on the part of the parents have also contributed to her feeling this way. She reminds us, too, that not all adopted children share the same story—Marina’s path has been different from Sam’s. It’s probably not too much of a spoiler for an upbeat series like this to say that things are patched up in the end—but it’s the how that makes the story, and Melleby navigates that with her usual skill.
The Series
These are both simply wonderful stories of life in a large, chaotic, but loving family. The publisher’s materials are comparing the Ali-O’Connors to the Vanderbeekers and the Penderwicks, the families in two lauded series, but better comparisons would be to the Lotterys, the Fletchers (and their neighbors, the Johnston-Fischers), and the Swifts, series that also center large families but have more queerness in them. (There’s also a hefty dash of Freeform’s TV series The Fosters, though the House on Sunrise Lagoon books are geared for a slightly younger age.)
Melleby’s writing is as engaging and thoughtful as always. She captures the spirit of living in a place in touch with the ocean, where not everyone stays year-round and those who do learn to move with tides both watery and human. She shows the personal and inter-sibling questions and challenges that may arise in a family formed in multiple ways, as well as ones that may happen in families of any type as children grow and change. While she doesn’t shy from showing the challenges, however, she also shows that they are not insurmountable, and that, despite differences in names, history, and extended family members, the Ali-O’Connors are nevertheless one family—a family in all of its wonderful, messy, silly, aggravating, and loving variety. I’m looking forward to spending more time with them.