The Ali-O’Connor family is back in this sequel to Sam Makes a Splash, which kicked off the series about two moms and their five kids living on a lagoon on the Jersey shore. This volume centers on 10-year-old Marina, the middle child.
Marina wasn’t supposed to be in the middle. When her moms adopted her as an infant, they already had Harbor, who was one year older, from Mom’s previous marriage. Mama then gave birth via assisted insemination to twins Cordelia and Lir, three years younger than Marina. After that, Mom and Mama adopted Sam—not an infant, but a child Harbor’s age, leaving Marina as the middle child who increasingly feels like the odd one out. Sam and Harbor are Mom’s favorites, she thinks, since they all love boats. Mama wanted the twins “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. 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.
As in the first volume, Melleby 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. She reminds us, too, that not all adopted children share the same story—Sam, a White child adopted from her grandmother’s care, followed a different path than Marina, half Mexican from her birth mother but with half her heritage from her unknown birth father.
She also weaves in moments that many children in LGBTQ and other “non-traditional” families may recognize, such as being asked intrusive questions about their family. She doesn’t dwell on “issues,” but nor does she pretend that a family formed in multiple ways, with members who don’t all look alike, won’t receive some rude inquiries at times.
The series celebrates family in all of its wonderful, messy, silly, aggravating, and loving variety, blending fun with a thoughtful exploration of adolescence and growing up. Melleby also 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. I’m 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.
