Nicole Melleby has already made a name for herself as one of the best writers of middle-grade fiction around, with thoughtful and authentic queer characters. In this cheery volume that starts a new chapter book series, she introduces us to the Ali-O’Connor family: Mom, Mama, Harbor, Sam (Samantha), Marina, and twins Cordelia and Lir, who live on the eponymous lagoon on the Jersey shore.
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.
This is a wonderful story of life in a large, chaotic, but loving family. The publisher’s materials are comparing it 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. Most notably here, she shows the personal and inter-sibling questions and challenges that may arise in a family formed in multiple ways, where not all of the kids may share a last name, where one has a father from a parent’s previous marriage, two have a sperm donor, and one has a grandmother unrelated to the others, who used to be her caretaker. While Melleby 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.
This is also the first time I can recall a book for this age range 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.
I also love that Melleby makes a point of showing that although Mom owns the business and is the primary breadwinner, Mama cooks dinner, is the primary contact point for the kids’ schools, and takes the kids shopping when they needed new clothes. It’s Mama who sits at the head of the table—a reversal of traditional practice where the (usually male) primary breadwinner does. We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re valuing all the work that goes into raising a family.
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.
Don’t let my discussion of some of the issues the book touches cloud the fact that this is also simply a very fun story–about boats and beaches and sibling antics and quirky neighbors. It’s about family in all of its wonderful, messy, silly, aggravating, and loving variety, and about one character’s search for belonging. It’s also the start of a series (with the second volume, Marina in the Middle, already out), and I’m happily looking forward to spending more time with the Ali-O’Connors.
Sam, Harbor, and Mom are White. Mama is of Syrian ancestry, and the twins share her dark hair. Neighbors’ last names reflect a range of ethnic origins.
