This sequel to The Lotterys Plus One
Their second story is again told through the eyes of their 9-year-old middle child, Sumac, who feels responsible for making sure their family’s winter holiday celebrations go according to plan. But an ice storm traps one dad and a brother out of the country; their visitor from Brazil gets injured and needs care; and then the city loses power. Can Sumac make sure their holiday is still a success?
The story unfolds as a slice of the Lotterys’ variegated and chaotic life, complete with sibling rivalry (and cooperation), parental exhaustion (and love), and an interweaving of the many traditions—old and new—reflecting the family members and their neighbors. The parents are of Jamaican, Mohawk, Scottish, and Indian ancestry; neighbors include a Muslim and a Jewish family. Sumac is of Filipina and German descent. And while the parents’ queerness is never a focus, there are queer-positive tidbits woven in, like a reference to Pride and the mention of a family friend who uses “they” pronouns. Additionally, Sumac’s sibling Brian is gender creative.
Donoghue doesn’t make this feel like a checklist of diversity categories, though, but rather an image of what life is actually like for many families and communities today, celebrating differences even while helping each other and coming together to create something more than the sum of its parts. And if real life contains more friction between such groups than in this book, readers should be inspired by Donoghue’s vision of what could be, and thoroughly enjoy spending more time with the Lotterys.
