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The Lotterys #1
The Lotterys Plus One
Sumac Lottery is nine years old and the self-proclaimed "good girl" of her (VERY) large, (EXTREMELY) unruly family. And what a family the Lotterys are: four parents, children both adopted and biological, and a menagerie of pets, all living and learning together in a sprawling house called Camelottery. Then one day, the news breaks that one of their grandfathers is suffering from dementia and will be coming to live with them. And not just any grandfather; the long dormant "Grumps," who fell out with his son so long ago that he hasn't been part of any of their lives.
Suddenly, everything changes. Sumac has to give up her room to make the newcomer feel at home. She tries to be nice, but prickly Grumps clearly disapproves of how the Lotterys live: whole grains, strange vegetables, rescue pets, a multicultural household... He's worse than just tough to get along with -- Grumps has got to go! But can Sumac help him find a home where he belongs?
Suddenly, everything changes. Sumac has to give up her room to make the newcomer feel at home. She tries to be nice, but prickly Grumps clearly disapproves of how the Lotterys live: whole grains, strange vegetables, rescue pets, a multicultural household... He's worse than just tough to get along with -- Grumps has got to go! But can Sumac help him find a home where he belongs?
303 pages, Hardcover
First published March 28, 2017
85 people are currently reading
5044 people want to read
About the author
Emma Donoghue
78 books13.2k followersGrew up in Ireland, 20s in England doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature, since then in Canada. Best known for my novel, film and play ROOM, also other contemporary and historical novels and short stories, non-fiction, theatre and middle-grade novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 531 reviews
April 4, 2017
I've been ruminating on this one for a couple days, and I gotta tell ya, it's just way too much of a gimmick.
Literally every single alternative lifestyle you can think of is here. Two multicultural couples. Who are of course, best friends, so the kids have four parents instead of two. They don't drive. They go to local plays and markets and concerts. None of the parents work. All of the kids are homeschooled. Most of the children are adopted. One is transgender. All of them are named after trees. They have cutesy names for every room in the house and can't call anything by their normal terms.
It takes a very, very long time for a plot to develop. It emerges early on, sure. One of the grandpas comes to live with the family. Fantastic! What follows is many many many many many chapters about Sumac being a brat and whining and lots of family outings. It dragged on far too long and it felt like it was just a way to put the family in weird situations so we can see how progressive they are.
It's maybe the last like twenty pages that something worthwhile happens with the plot, and by then I was so bored of the family outings and Sumac pouting that I couldn't wait to finish.
Literally every single alternative lifestyle you can think of is here. Two multicultural couples. Who are of course, best friends, so the kids have four parents instead of two. They don't drive. They go to local plays and markets and concerts. None of the parents work. All of the kids are homeschooled. Most of the children are adopted. One is transgender. All of them are named after trees. They have cutesy names for every room in the house and can't call anything by their normal terms.
It takes a very, very long time for a plot to develop. It emerges early on, sure. One of the grandpas comes to live with the family. Fantastic! What follows is many many many many many chapters about Sumac being a brat and whining and lots of family outings. It dragged on far too long and it felt like it was just a way to put the family in weird situations so we can see how progressive they are.
It's maybe the last like twenty pages that something worthwhile happens with the plot, and by then I was so bored of the family outings and Sumac pouting that I couldn't wait to finish.
July 17, 2017
My review, but first a little background. Just a paragraph, don't fret.
In the United States. this year’s national summer reading theme is Build a Better World. My library has chosen to take a more metaphorical approach to the subject and combined that with Gene Luen Yang’s (the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature) program Reading Without Walls. Our goal is for kiddos to read outside their comfort zones in order to diversify their awareness. After all, how can we build a better world when our knowledge is confined to our own limited experience?
With this in mind, when I read early descriptions that repeatedly applauded Emma Donoghue’s The Lottery’s Plus One for its diversity, I considered it an ideal pairing with our summer plans. And it is. The Lotterys are a multi-cultural, multi-racial family that consist of two gay dads, two lesbian moms, and SEVEN kids--both biological and adopted. Oh, and those kids? All named after trees. There’s even a Catalpa. Years back when the parents won the lottery, they changed the ENTIRE family’s last name to Lottery and purchased a rambling 32-room Victorian mansion in Toronto that they dubbed “Camelottery.” The four parents then quit their jobs and dedicated themselves to homeschooling their kids, volunteering, and creating a sustainable lifestyle.
And yes. The rumors are true. The parents are bestowed twee nicknames like “PapaDum,” and “Cardamom.” And Camelottery’s assorted rooms are given similar treatment. But c’mon….IT’S A KID’S BOOK. In an adult novel, soppy wordplay would get old. Fast. But IT’S WRITTEN FOR CHILDREN. Kids think this shit is funny. Believe me.
The Lotterys Plus One, though, isn’t a book whose merit lies only in its diversity. This is no checkmark in a box. It’s a richly woven story that holds universal kid appeal. Because The Lotterys Plus One is ultimately about FAMILY. When a grandfather the kids have never met becomes ill and is forced to move into Camelottery, it disrupts the entire Lottery clan. Grumps, so named because he’s grumpy, doesn’t approve of the Lottery’s lifestyle. Whether it be homeschooling, environmental conservation, adoption, or homosexuality, Grumps is anti it ALL. He’s the Grinch times 10. Sumac, our main character, is tasked with helping Grumps integrate into the family. Something she’s none too pleased about. The crux of the story lies in whether it’s possible to meld such disparate worlds together.
There’s no question that we need diverse books. Children especially so. And I LOVE that The Lotterys Plus One has diversity coming out the ying-yang. But, as mentioned before, it’s not JUST about that. In essence, The Lotterys Plus One is no different from any family story. It’s a modern All-of-a-Kind Family, The Saturdays, or The Moffats. It’s a family with a crap-ton o’kids that are continuously getting into scrapes, having adventures, and laughing together. And because Emma Donoghue is a skillful writer, she addresses the diversity present while also normalizing it. So this book will hopefully never be limited to descriptions like “THAT book about gay parents….or THAT book with THOSE kids from THOSE different races & cultures” but rather famous for the story itself.
In the United States. this year’s national summer reading theme is Build a Better World. My library has chosen to take a more metaphorical approach to the subject and combined that with Gene Luen Yang’s (the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature) program Reading Without Walls. Our goal is for kiddos to read outside their comfort zones in order to diversify their awareness. After all, how can we build a better world when our knowledge is confined to our own limited experience?
With this in mind, when I read early descriptions that repeatedly applauded Emma Donoghue’s The Lottery’s Plus One for its diversity, I considered it an ideal pairing with our summer plans. And it is. The Lotterys are a multi-cultural, multi-racial family that consist of two gay dads, two lesbian moms, and SEVEN kids--both biological and adopted. Oh, and those kids? All named after trees. There’s even a Catalpa. Years back when the parents won the lottery, they changed the ENTIRE family’s last name to Lottery and purchased a rambling 32-room Victorian mansion in Toronto that they dubbed “Camelottery.” The four parents then quit their jobs and dedicated themselves to homeschooling their kids, volunteering, and creating a sustainable lifestyle.
And yes. The rumors are true. The parents are bestowed twee nicknames like “PapaDum,” and “Cardamom.” And Camelottery’s assorted rooms are given similar treatment. But c’mon….IT’S A KID’S BOOK. In an adult novel, soppy wordplay would get old. Fast. But IT’S WRITTEN FOR CHILDREN. Kids think this shit is funny. Believe me.
The Lotterys Plus One, though, isn’t a book whose merit lies only in its diversity. This is no checkmark in a box. It’s a richly woven story that holds universal kid appeal. Because The Lotterys Plus One is ultimately about FAMILY. When a grandfather the kids have never met becomes ill and is forced to move into Camelottery, it disrupts the entire Lottery clan. Grumps, so named because he’s grumpy, doesn’t approve of the Lottery’s lifestyle. Whether it be homeschooling, environmental conservation, adoption, or homosexuality, Grumps is anti it ALL. He’s the Grinch times 10. Sumac, our main character, is tasked with helping Grumps integrate into the family. Something she’s none too pleased about. The crux of the story lies in whether it’s possible to meld such disparate worlds together.
There’s no question that we need diverse books. Children especially so. And I LOVE that The Lotterys Plus One has diversity coming out the ying-yang. But, as mentioned before, it’s not JUST about that. In essence, The Lotterys Plus One is no different from any family story. It’s a modern All-of-a-Kind Family, The Saturdays, or The Moffats. It’s a family with a crap-ton o’kids that are continuously getting into scrapes, having adventures, and laughing together. And because Emma Donoghue is a skillful writer, she addresses the diversity present while also normalizing it. So this book will hopefully never be limited to descriptions like “THAT book about gay parents….or THAT book with THOSE kids from THOSE different races & cultures” but rather famous for the story itself.
July 24, 2017
It turns out there is a limit on how much super-progressive, super-gimmicky, super-alternative, super-hippie, super-eco, super-diverse, super-smug super-family super-cuteseyness I can reasonably swallow in one sitting, and this story is it. You live and learn.
May 8, 2017
The Lotterys Plus One - Emma Donoghue, Caroline Hadilaksono A failure, sadly, not epic. Here's the set up: an enormous, unconventional family living in Toronto epitomizes all the lefty, hippy, green, etc. positions you can imagine, just exactly as if someone had said, hmm, "what's the super liberal family of today?" and proceeded to include every idea that came to mind, starting with Angelina and Brad's kids but with one lesbian and one gay couple co-parenting. Everyone represents some different combination of mixed races/ethnicities. There are an array of disabilities. The kids are homeschooled, each pursuing their own interests. The family home is as green as possible, the food is organic, they have no car, they dumpster-dive like pros. Although they are wealthy due to a lucky lottery win, they do not indulge in traditional status-symbols, and the kids don't get a lot of stuff, especially plastic stuff, to play with, and have no money of their own except from outside jobs. Also, they didn't buy the ticket. You've got the idea. You can see the pitch meeting in your mind's eye. That's the set-up, now here's the drama: one of the four biological grandfathers, previously never introduced to the children because of a vast array of bigoted and hateful attitudes, has developed Alzheimer's. Can the generous, tolerant, loving family find it in them to accept this angry old codger and truly welcome him? Of course they can. And you've guessed that he in turn develops a warm relationship with all of them. Bullshit. Put aside the simplistic, non-combative, hardly ever actually hurtful portrayal of Alzheimer's. The author has made one member of the family into a token exclusively for a plot point, and that nagged at me from the get go. Nine-year-old Sumac is our point of view character. Both of her birth parents were accountants, so I think we're meant to assume she's Asperger-y. Sumac introduces the rest of the family early on, pointing out whatever characteristic it is that the grandfather will mock or abuse at some point. So, Brian is four, and was born Briar, and a year ago he changed his name, and he never wants to be referred to as a girl, although apparently he's never said he is a boy. Sumac will now use female pronouns for the rest of the book, just to be sure the reader knows that Brian used to be Briar and doesn't for a moment forget that Brian, who keeps his head shaved so as not to be mistaken for a girl, is *really* a girl. When the grandfather sees the child naked for the first time, of course he yells that it's a girl! I'm not any sort of paragon of enlightenment. I get things wrong all the time. If I am any good as a human though, I try to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them. But seriously? Even I know that the first rule of consideration for other humans is to acknowledge and respect how they choose to present themselves. External genitalia and lack of clear declarations aside, if a child chooses not to be a girl you don't refer to him with feminine pronouns. If Brian wants anyone to know that he used to be Briar that is his information to reveal or not. Emma Donoghue knows this, I imagine. And yet, she created a character and deliberately mistreated that character through half the novel, just so we could feel smugger than the grandfather. Library copy
April 1, 2021
DNF. I'm on page 14 and Brian is being misgendered SO MUCH and I just can't handle it. I even looked up other reviews to see if there were author interviews where Donoghue explains herself, or has an authors note, or even just apologizes. Nothing. I flipped to the last chapter and Brian is still being misgendered. I even went through digging for more details, some textual evidence that Brian is written as gender-fluid or gender-nonconforming, which is what reviewers and the author herself have subtly implied. But no. (TW: misgendering ahead.)
On page 72, Brian declares emphatically that he is "the prince" in the fairytale, and the narrator says "Brian has never actually claimed to be a boy" EXCEPT FOR CHANGING HIS NAME AND WANTING TO BE THE PRINCE AND REFUSING TO LET ANYONE CALL HIM A GIRL. On pages 166-170, Brian insistently learns to swim, and clearly (given the description of the application of sunscreen) wears swim trunks. On page 184, Brian's family seems mortified that Grumps think's he's a boy, but Brian screams at all of them that he's NOT A GIRL, and didn't correct anyone with NOT A BOY when Grumps called him that. On page 222, "Brian always picks boy clothes [to wear], of course." On page 232, Brian is called a boy by a shop owner, and when sister Aspen says "She's a girl," Brian objects, "NOT a girl." Later, on 235, the shop owner describes Brian as "a sweet little person," so this woman is clearly trying SO HARD to affirm Brian's gender identity in front of clearly transphobic parents. On page 250, Grumps has "accepted" the family's misgendering of Brian, and calls Brian "girlie," to which Brian responds, "NOT a girlie." And finally, on page 303, Brian insists on "being a brother" in a Rakhi ceremony the family is doing. Only in one sentence, at the very end, on this page, does Brian insist on "tying a string on Oak, too [Brian's biological little brother, over whom he is VERY PROTECTIVE], because "I be sister AND brother."" Frankly, I interpret this scene as about gender ROLES, because tying a string onto a brother/husband/male relative is something a woman does in a specific Indian legend, to "boost his powers of mind and help him fight demons." Meanwhile, the men vow "to protect my sisters and help them climb over any obstacles." It seems clear that Brian in this moment is expressing a close relationship with his brother, who suffers from shaken baby syndrome, and wants to both protect him and empower him.
And before transphobes come in here saying that Brian is just "going through a phase" or "imaginative," remember that Brian spends more than half the book wearing a cardboard fire truck costume that he made mostly himself, and yet doesn't insist EVER that he is a fire engine. On page 290 he loses the fire engine and makes a plane with Grumps to replace it. There is clearly a difference in the text between Brian's likes/dislikes/hobbies and Brian's identity.
I don't care how magical fantasy great this book looks from the cover. It's 2017 and an editor, at least, should know better. SHAME ON YOU, Emma Donoghue, Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, and anyone else involved, for not catching this before going to print.
On page 72, Brian declares emphatically that he is "the prince" in the fairytale, and the narrator says "Brian has never actually claimed to be a boy" EXCEPT FOR CHANGING HIS NAME AND WANTING TO BE THE PRINCE AND REFUSING TO LET ANYONE CALL HIM A GIRL. On pages 166-170, Brian insistently learns to swim, and clearly (given the description of the application of sunscreen) wears swim trunks. On page 184, Brian's family seems mortified that Grumps think's he's a boy, but Brian screams at all of them that he's NOT A GIRL, and didn't correct anyone with NOT A BOY when Grumps called him that. On page 222, "Brian always picks boy clothes [to wear], of course." On page 232, Brian is called a boy by a shop owner, and when sister Aspen says "She's a girl," Brian objects, "NOT a girl." Later, on 235, the shop owner describes Brian as "a sweet little person," so this woman is clearly trying SO HARD to affirm Brian's gender identity in front of clearly transphobic parents. On page 250, Grumps has "accepted" the family's misgendering of Brian, and calls Brian "girlie," to which Brian responds, "NOT a girlie." And finally, on page 303, Brian insists on "being a brother" in a Rakhi ceremony the family is doing. Only in one sentence, at the very end, on this page, does Brian insist on "tying a string on Oak, too [Brian's biological little brother, over whom he is VERY PROTECTIVE], because "I be sister AND brother."" Frankly, I interpret this scene as about gender ROLES, because tying a string onto a brother/husband/male relative is something a woman does in a specific Indian legend, to "boost his powers of mind and help him fight demons." Meanwhile, the men vow "to protect my sisters and help them climb over any obstacles." It seems clear that Brian in this moment is expressing a close relationship with his brother, who suffers from shaken baby syndrome, and wants to both protect him and empower him.
And before transphobes come in here saying that Brian is just "going through a phase" or "imaginative," remember that Brian spends more than half the book wearing a cardboard fire truck costume that he made mostly himself, and yet doesn't insist EVER that he is a fire engine. On page 290 he loses the fire engine and makes a plane with Grumps to replace it. There is clearly a difference in the text between Brian's likes/dislikes/hobbies and Brian's identity.
I don't care how magical fantasy great this book looks from the cover. It's 2017 and an editor, at least, should know better. SHAME ON YOU, Emma Donoghue, Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, and anyone else involved, for not catching this before going to print.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2017
On page 50 of the ARC... Please, please, please tell me the author a.) has an AMAZING explanation later in the book for misgendering one of her characters or b.) fixed this enormous editing error in the final copy. Please.
UPDATE: DNF (stopped at pg. 100). Couldn't get past the misgendering of Brian. The writing was as scattershot as the Lottery household. Super disappointed.
UPDATE: DNF (stopped at pg. 100). Couldn't get past the misgendering of Brian. The writing was as scattershot as the Lottery household. Super disappointed.
December 9, 2017
2.5 stars.
This is a story targeted at 8-12 year old readers, and I think it's wonderful that books like these exist today.
This is the story of a large, blended, queer family told from the point of 9 year old Sumac Lottery. Her family consists of "four parents, children both adopted and biological, and a menagerie of pets, all living and learning together in a sprawling house called Camelottery." One day out of the blue, there is news that a grandfather she didn't know existed is moving in with them, and he changes the world as she knows it.
This is a cute story, and almost every possible alternative lifestyle choice is thrown into the mix, including all the kids being home schooled. Things are interesting and chaotic, but that's part of the fun. I did feel that there were simply too many balls this story was juggling to be really successful, but I appreciated the effort to try and include as diverse a group as possible. The other major issue is the premise as to why this family has the name they have, which means that money is simply not an issue. Maybe that would have been one too many topics to tackle, but given all the themes already in the mix, this was a huge oversight in my opinion.
There are too many characters, and none were fleshed out enough to be able to really tell them apart. Not sure why the story needed so many characters, and the action does take a while to get going. I was annoyed with the parents for much of the reading, because you can't really be so alternative and then behave in a conventional manner when it comes to dealing with an aging parent, or at least talk about alternatives. Granted, this is from a 9 year old's POV, so probably lots of this might have been going on behind the scenes. I enjoyed the final several chapters the most, and while I didn't love it as much as I expected to, I do appreciate that stories like these are now available for kids to read, so rounded up.
This is a story targeted at 8-12 year old readers, and I think it's wonderful that books like these exist today.
This is the story of a large, blended, queer family told from the point of 9 year old Sumac Lottery. Her family consists of "four parents, children both adopted and biological, and a menagerie of pets, all living and learning together in a sprawling house called Camelottery." One day out of the blue, there is news that a grandfather she didn't know existed is moving in with them, and he changes the world as she knows it.
This is a cute story, and almost every possible alternative lifestyle choice is thrown into the mix, including all the kids being home schooled. Things are interesting and chaotic, but that's part of the fun. I did feel that there were simply too many balls this story was juggling to be really successful, but I appreciated the effort to try and include as diverse a group as possible. The other major issue is the premise as to why this family has the name they have, which means that money is simply not an issue. Maybe that would have been one too many topics to tackle, but given all the themes already in the mix, this was a huge oversight in my opinion.
There are too many characters, and none were fleshed out enough to be able to really tell them apart. Not sure why the story needed so many characters, and the action does take a while to get going. I was annoyed with the parents for much of the reading, because you can't really be so alternative and then behave in a conventional manner when it comes to dealing with an aging parent, or at least talk about alternatives. Granted, this is from a 9 year old's POV, so probably lots of this might have been going on behind the scenes. I enjoyed the final several chapters the most, and while I didn't love it as much as I expected to, I do appreciate that stories like these are now available for kids to read, so rounded up.
February 20, 2020
Well, this book is certainly a conservative's worst nightmare: two diverse and gay married couples win the lottery and combine their households to co-parent and homeschool their seven multiracial and gender-diverse biological and adopted children. And that nightmare is inflicted upon Iain Miller, the racist and homophobic father of one of the dads, who has started to exhibit signs of dementia and is forced to move into the big and bustling Lottery household while he is being medically assessed. "Grumps," as he is called, is hard to sympathize with, but the one thing I can agree with is that the sheer quirkiness of this family can really wear a person down.
Every single one of them is quirky! It's quirk overload!
Quirkageddon!!!
I might have survived the devastation, but I was driven to the end of my patience by the family's constant enshrinement of silly kiddytalk: Spare Oom, aspendents (accidents), A Dull Conversation (adult conversation), etc. UGH!
Every single one of them is quirky! It's quirk overload!
Quirkageddon!!!
I might have survived the devastation, but I was driven to the end of my patience by the family's constant enshrinement of silly kiddytalk: Spare Oom, aspendents (accidents), A Dull Conversation (adult conversation), etc. UGH!
Read
January 30, 2017Gonna need to think about this one for a while before I decide how I feel about it.
May 25, 2017
3.5 stars. I genuinely like middle-grade novels; the genre has a more simplistic writing style, which can actually be nice, and doesn't usually lean on romance, which can only be a good thing. But middle grade realistic books often suffer from the same issue; they're unmemorable. Too simplistic and lacking in fleshed-out characters. While The Lotterys Plus One is a particularly good middle-grade novel, it still suffers from the same issues.
The Lotterys Plus One is a diverse retelling of full house, but that's not all it is. It's a coming of age for kids who can't relate to the archetype, and it's utterly heartwarming. Even beyond that, this is a story about family, mixed-up as it might be.
There's also the disapproving grandfather, a grump who doesn't approve of his kid's “lifestyle”. He's a very unlikable character, but his inclusion gives this escapist story a touch of realness, which was exactly what was needed.
There are four parents, two dogs, and six siblings in the Lottery household, each with distinct personalities and characterization. These characters are certainly likable and relatable, although none of them felt all that fleshed out. There's a difference between likable and fleshed out. Most middle-grade novels forget to make that jump, and unfortunately this book was no different.
While I did enjoy this book a lot, I don't consider it a must-read by any means.
* I received a copy of this via my local bookstore. This does not impact my review in any way.
The Lotterys Plus One is a diverse retelling of full house, but that's not all it is. It's a coming of age for kids who can't relate to the archetype, and it's utterly heartwarming. Even beyond that, this is a story about family, mixed-up as it might be.
There's also the disapproving grandfather, a grump who doesn't approve of his kid's “lifestyle”. He's a very unlikable character, but his inclusion gives this escapist story a touch of realness, which was exactly what was needed.
There are four parents, two dogs, and six siblings in the Lottery household, each with distinct personalities and characterization. These characters are certainly likable and relatable, although none of them felt all that fleshed out. There's a difference between likable and fleshed out. Most middle-grade novels forget to make that jump, and unfortunately this book was no different.
While I did enjoy this book a lot, I don't consider it a must-read by any means.
* I received a copy of this via my local bookstore. This does not impact my review in any way.
September 12, 2017
This book drove me crazy. Sumac is the 5th kid and 9 years old in the Lottery family, and her life is turned upside down when her until now "dormant grandfather" nearly burns his home down, and subsequently comes to live with the Lotterys. "Grumps" is homophobic and racist, which is very hard for the multi-ethnic family parented by 4 gay and lesbian parents. But instead of offering support and guidance to their children about how to handle this hateful man, they continually ask Sumac to sacrifice more to "Grumps" because she's such a mature 9 year old. Which I think is really what drove me crazy about this book, the 4 Lottery parents were just insufferable, and never own up to any of their bad behavior. The moral of the story is that Sumac, a 9 year old without any extra care or help or support from her parents, should have been more loving and accepting of her grandfather as he hurled racist insults at her and homophobic insults at her family. The Lotterys are stinking rich, yet spending money to have a care provider for "Grumps" is never talked about; and the moral of the story was that putting a toxic elder family member into a home would be wrong, no matter how bad it is for everyone involved. A climatic dramatic scene near the end of the book will magically make everything better, right? Also, the oldest lottery kid was 16 and his parents refused to help him or pay for him to learn how to drive, because they don't own a car- because why would they let their child make autonomous choices? Or gain life skills that they want to learn outside hippy lifestyle-ism?
October 8, 2018
The Lotterys are an unusual family by any standard, with two moms, two dads, seven children (mostly adopted), and a handful of pets. But when a grandfather is diagnosed with dementia and has to move in, his grumping cramps their style. Quirky names and living green. Homeschooling and trampolines. Recycling and reclaiming and reports ... and losing your marbles.
I kind of adored this because I homeschooled our lot, and the free-form lessons and teachable moments ring completely true. It would have been nice to have four parents pitching in. The ultimate tag team. Idealistic and heartwarming. Fair warning: the two dads are a couple, and the two moms are a couple.
I kind of adored this because I homeschooled our lot, and the free-form lessons and teachable moments ring completely true. It would have been nice to have four parents pitching in. The ultimate tag team. Idealistic and heartwarming. Fair warning: the two dads are a couple, and the two moms are a couple.
February 16, 2018
Lots of quirk. I mean, lots and lots of quirk. The family set-up is quirky, the parenting styles are quirky, the children are quirky, the house is quirky, the names (people and house and rooms and animals) are quirky. And just as I was beginning to get irritated by all the quirk, I realised that actually...there are lots of similarities between this family and mine. I'm not really sure what that says about us - but I suspect it's mostly good! 3.5*
January 14, 2019
Too much, too, erm, 'earnest' is not a strong enough word... shall we say, 'preachy?'
And awfully disrespectful of Dad. I mean, I'd get the nickname 'Grumps' too, if I were treated this way, big life decisions made for me even though I'm eighty friggin two years old. After less than a month he's starting to melt and folks are glad to have him? Um, no.
Of course, I'm a sucker for the list of books that Sumac mentions. Most of which I'm already familiar with, but Ima gonna list the unfamiliar ones in the comment section so I can investigate.
And awfully disrespectful of Dad. I mean, I'd get the nickname 'Grumps' too, if I were treated this way, big life decisions made for me even though I'm eighty friggin two years old. After less than a month he's starting to melt and folks are glad to have him? Um, no.
Of course, I'm a sucker for the list of books that Sumac mentions. Most of which I'm already familiar with, but Ima gonna list the unfamiliar ones in the comment section so I can investigate.
July 26, 2017
I'm all for diversity, and yes, I firmly can be counted among those who are convinced that books highlighting diversity are needed, and I appreciate the author's intentions here--to show a very diverse family dealing with the joys and challenges of everyday life. BUT...Although there are undoubtedly families just like the Lotteries--not their original name--sometimes I felt that the author was going for too cute and too inclusive all too often. Even the parents have odd but clever names--MaxiMum and CardaMom and PopCorn and PapaDum, and the youngsters are all named after trees. Not only is diversity represented in all sorts of ways here, including baby Oak being a special needs child, but even the parrot, cat, and dog have special needs as well. Because there are so many family members, it's possible to get lost among all the noise and talking, even with the story being told from one point of view, that of nine-year-old Sumac Lottery. She is usually the one who gets things and seems to be the most empathetic and considerate child of all in the family. But after PopCorn's father moves in with the family in Toronto and she must give up her room as everyone adjusts to the elderly man they call Grumps, she seethes with resentment. Interestingly, she doesn't express this resentment but acts on it subtle, subversive, and sometimes even cruel ways. There are poignant elements to this story although the outcome is obvious from the start. Despite the challenges and despite Sumac's efforts--she even belatedly calls herself Poison Sumac--somehow the family manages to fold Grumps into their home and into their lives. The author manages to make readers feel some compassion for the man since he's been plunked down into a world quite foreign to him in every sense of the word. While he clearly has many prejudices, he also seems to have nowhere else to go and cannot live by himself. But Alzheimer's patients don't cope well with change, and they don't get better so as I read the book, I wondered about how long this "plus one" notion would last. It's a sweet and compassionate idea in many respects, but taking care of Grumps is going to be a full-time job. I'm not so sure the portrayal of this disease does justice to it. I also winced every time Brian appeared and one of the children referred to the child as she or her after having acknowledged that Brian didn't want to be called a girl. Using those pronouns seemed to dismiss the child's preference. There were parts of the book that amused me as an adult--for instance, all the clever names for the various rooms or experiences, credited to oldest child Sic. Some of it was just too cute for words, and not necessarily in a good way. But I did enjoy imagining that families like this are out there, making their way through the world and facing some of the same challenges all the rest of us face. They just seemed to have been completely oblivious of what the rest of the world thinks or disinterested in others' perceptions, and I wondered what made it so for them. Still, despite my quibbles here, there were things I enjoyed about the book, especially Sumac's campaign to get rid of Grumps, thinly veiled under a layer of concern for what would be best for him. How many adults have done and said some of the same things she does in the book?
March 20, 2017
Very, very twee, but despite the occasional eyeroll, I never found myself annoyed or unwilling to read further. In fact, though eccentric dialogue and chaotic vignette largely stands in for plot, this is ultimately a very sweet and charming story about family and acceptance. The diversity angle is deliberately placed in focus, but in a way that is both very believable and very germane to the story. And the characters, to a one, are wonderful. This is a great read for kids looking for something fun and gentle.
March 17, 2017
Part of the reason why I loved Emma Donoghue's novel Room so much was because the voice of the little boy was so beautifully done. He was exactly like a five year old boy who had only interacted with a smart young woman for his entire existence. His mannerisms, logic, and conclusions were so like a five year old that I really felt like I was reading his story. The thing I love about Donoghue's novels and short stories is her ability to make me feel deeply about the people she writes about.
So I was hopeful that The Lotterys Plus One would be a marvel. I hoped that Donoghue's first book written for elementary aged readers would be something special that I could recommend with my whole heart. When I got an ARC from a giveaway listed by the publisher on Shelf Awareness, I was excited. Now I could start recommending this book a few weeks early! But it wasn't great. It was a little hard to get into, a little too twee (and therefore somewhat obnoxious), a little too much, just . . . a little too everything except great.
Sumac is being raised by four parents, the awesomely named PapaDum and PopCorn (HA!), and CardaMom and MaxiMum (HA!). She has a multitude of brothers and sisters, all named after trees, most of them not related to her or their parents by blood. It's a little murky how this ragtag family came together, but the gist is that the four parents won a lottery, and decided to buy a huge house, and use their money to raise children, and have adventures. The kids are all home-schooled. They are encouraged to research their interests, and to volunteer, and of course be as environmental as possible. It's the dream way to live, but of course this lifestyle is only possible because there is plenty of money to go around. Their utopian lives are upended when PopCorn's father starts showing signs of dementia, and has to move into Camelottery, the Lottery's ramshackle house.
The good parts of this book is in watching PopCorn's father (eventually called "Grumps" by the Lottery children) slowly, slowly become integrated into this jumbly family. He is bewildered by Brian's (who used to be named Briar Bree) insistence on being called a boy, and by the unflushed toilets, and the multicultural mishmash of a family where many kids are adopted. The children are bewildered by his judgemental attitude toward their beloved parents and practices. And yet somehow, everything starts to fit together in a way that's not exactly peaceful (what could be peaceful with so many people living under one roof?) but that feels realistic. That aspect of the book is very sweet, and a great story to recommend to children.
What feels so forced about the book is the author's insistence cramming every possible diversity issue into one family. I firmly believe that #weneeddiversebooks but I was a little put off by how incredibly insistent this story was about including every single ethnicity, every single LGBTQ persona, and every single oddity of the new traditional family. It felt very, very, very forced, and it took a lot away from the overall story. The earnest, always perfect parenting of the four parents also took away from the story. With so many parents how can they not inadvertently contradict each other? How can they not have some more major squabbles about how to raise the kids? Life simply can't be as perfect as was described in this story. (This is what I mean by obnoxious.)
Still, this is a decent story, and something that would probably be good for elementary age readers, especially those who love to read hipster-happy books about precocious children. Fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society and Wildwood would probably pick up this one.
So I was hopeful that The Lotterys Plus One would be a marvel. I hoped that Donoghue's first book written for elementary aged readers would be something special that I could recommend with my whole heart. When I got an ARC from a giveaway listed by the publisher on Shelf Awareness, I was excited. Now I could start recommending this book a few weeks early! But it wasn't great. It was a little hard to get into, a little too twee (and therefore somewhat obnoxious), a little too much, just . . . a little too everything except great.
Sumac is being raised by four parents, the awesomely named PapaDum and PopCorn (HA!), and CardaMom and MaxiMum (HA!). She has a multitude of brothers and sisters, all named after trees, most of them not related to her or their parents by blood. It's a little murky how this ragtag family came together, but the gist is that the four parents won a lottery, and decided to buy a huge house, and use their money to raise children, and have adventures. The kids are all home-schooled. They are encouraged to research their interests, and to volunteer, and of course be as environmental as possible. It's the dream way to live, but of course this lifestyle is only possible because there is plenty of money to go around. Their utopian lives are upended when PopCorn's father starts showing signs of dementia, and has to move into Camelottery, the Lottery's ramshackle house.
The good parts of this book is in watching PopCorn's father (eventually called "Grumps" by the Lottery children) slowly, slowly become integrated into this jumbly family. He is bewildered by Brian's (who used to be named Briar Bree) insistence on being called a boy, and by the unflushed toilets, and the multicultural mishmash of a family where many kids are adopted. The children are bewildered by his judgemental attitude toward their beloved parents and practices. And yet somehow, everything starts to fit together in a way that's not exactly peaceful (what could be peaceful with so many people living under one roof?) but that feels realistic. That aspect of the book is very sweet, and a great story to recommend to children.
What feels so forced about the book is the author's insistence cramming every possible diversity issue into one family. I firmly believe that #weneeddiversebooks but I was a little put off by how incredibly insistent this story was about including every single ethnicity, every single LGBTQ persona, and every single oddity of the new traditional family. It felt very, very, very forced, and it took a lot away from the overall story. The earnest, always perfect parenting of the four parents also took away from the story. With so many parents how can they not inadvertently contradict each other? How can they not have some more major squabbles about how to raise the kids? Life simply can't be as perfect as was described in this story. (This is what I mean by obnoxious.)
Still, this is a decent story, and something that would probably be good for elementary age readers, especially those who love to read hipster-happy books about precocious children. Fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society and Wildwood would probably pick up this one.
December 7, 2020
I listened to this while spinning the most gorgeous skein of yarn from two braids of dyed combed top. So gorgeous, in fact, that multiple people at the yarn store asked if I sold my handspun.
I'm talking about what I was doing while listening to this book because the spinning was honestly more enjoyable than the book. This was a bit of a mixed bag. The narrator was fantastic and had a very unique voice for each of the characters and it was perfect. The narrator alone saved the book from a two-star rating. I will definitely be looking out for more audiobooks narrated by her.
The actual content of the book... Well. It seemed like Donoghue took a "everything including the kitchen sink" approach to show just how weird, and quirky, and accepting, and liberal the Lotterys were. The family was a huge mash-up of biological and adopted children of differing circumstances, the parental unit were actually two same-sex inter-racial couples, they homeschooled all the children (without an actual curriculum), and had strange names and words for everything. They didn't have a car, ate vegetarian, and all the children had plant names. It was as if Donoghue went, "What is the liberal dystopian hell that gives the far-right nightmares?" and incorporated all of that into this fictional family. And then there was Grumps, aka Ian Miller, aka one of the dad's father who moves in with the lottery because of early-stage dementia. And he's grumpy and disapproving, and Sumac, the narrator, is having none of it.
I found most of the characters completely annoying, with Sumac being particularly selfish and bratty. Many times I wanted to just yell at her to grow up and think about someone other than herself. Instead of finding the Lotterys lifestyle quirky and charming, I just found it over-the-top and felt like Donoghue was trying too hard.
And the ending felt a bit too neat because Sumac all of a sudden had a change of heart and Grumps was okay with her. A little too quick to that realization, given the entire book previous of selfishness.
And lastly, Brian, who was transgender and despite saying he wasn't a girl, was referred to as a "she" throughout the book because he hadn't specified a preferred pronoun. Which just seemed lazy and sloppy. Given the pains the author made to describe how accepting the family was, I find it really hard to believe the parents didn't have a conversation with him after he declared he wanted to change his name. It just seemed weird and odd and out-of-place.
But! The audiobook narrator saved the day and it was a delight to listen to her read the book and affect distinct voices and accepts for each character. I need to find more of Thérèse Plummer's narrating work because it was fabulous!
I'm talking about what I was doing while listening to this book because the spinning was honestly more enjoyable than the book. This was a bit of a mixed bag. The narrator was fantastic and had a very unique voice for each of the characters and it was perfect. The narrator alone saved the book from a two-star rating. I will definitely be looking out for more audiobooks narrated by her.
The actual content of the book... Well. It seemed like Donoghue took a "everything including the kitchen sink" approach to show just how weird, and quirky, and accepting, and liberal the Lotterys were. The family was a huge mash-up of biological and adopted children of differing circumstances, the parental unit were actually two same-sex inter-racial couples, they homeschooled all the children (without an actual curriculum), and had strange names and words for everything. They didn't have a car, ate vegetarian, and all the children had plant names. It was as if Donoghue went, "What is the liberal dystopian hell that gives the far-right nightmares?" and incorporated all of that into this fictional family. And then there was Grumps, aka Ian Miller, aka one of the dad's father who moves in with the lottery because of early-stage dementia. And he's grumpy and disapproving, and Sumac, the narrator, is having none of it.
I found most of the characters completely annoying, with Sumac being particularly selfish and bratty. Many times I wanted to just yell at her to grow up and think about someone other than herself. Instead of finding the Lotterys lifestyle quirky and charming, I just found it over-the-top and felt like Donoghue was trying too hard.
And the ending felt a bit too neat because Sumac all of a sudden had a change of heart and Grumps was okay with her. A little too quick to that realization, given the entire book previous of selfishness.
And lastly, Brian, who was transgender and despite saying he wasn't a girl, was referred to as a "she" throughout the book because he hadn't specified a preferred pronoun. Which just seemed lazy and sloppy. Given the pains the author made to describe how accepting the family was, I find it really hard to believe the parents didn't have a conversation with him after he declared he wanted to change his name. It just seemed weird and odd and out-of-place.
But! The audiobook narrator saved the day and it was a delight to listen to her read the book and affect distinct voices and accepts for each character. I need to find more of Thérèse Plummer's narrating work because it was fabulous!
June 6, 2017
The Lotterys are a very large, very diverse family. When a grandfather is diagnosed with dementia, he comes to live with them. Nine-year-old Sumac tries to welcome "Grumps," but he is not only resistant, but also racist and homophobic. Sumac hatches a plot to find him another home.
The story is charming and the characters are well done. The complex interactions among a large group of people as they attempt to adjust are realistic.
I felt the diversity in the story was way overdone. There are four parents consisting of two same-sex couples who have decided to live together and raise children together. These four have the following cultural backgrounds: Scottish Canadian, Indian, Jamaican and Mohawk. The first four kids are some kind of biological blend of the four parents (and one of these four has autism), the next three are adopted, the oldest of which is Filipino, the next one is transgender and the baby is developmentally disabled. It comes off like a deliberate attempt to include every single minority.
In addition, the parents are wealthy because they won the lottery the day the first child was born. Nobody has to work and all of the kids are homeschooled with all four parents home almost all the time. This is the fantasy family everyone wants to live in, but nobody actually does.
I had an issue with the fact that they had to go all the way to the Yukon to find a homophobic racist. There seems to be an implication that liberal, diverse Toronto is all happy and accepting of everybody. Toronto is my native city and, though it is a great place for people of all backgrounds to live, it is certainly not free of bigotry (sadly).
I was also bothered by the fact that the transgender child is not completely accepted as transgender. It bothers me on principle, but also because it is inconsistent with the characters. I find it difficult to believe that people who are so very open and accepting of everything else would have difficulty switching pronouns when their child insists he is "not a girl"!
That being said, I think this book would appeal to elementary-age readers because of its appeal to fantasy. Older readers, however, may find it difficult to relate to the characters for the same reason.
The story is charming and the characters are well done. The complex interactions among a large group of people as they attempt to adjust are realistic.
I felt the diversity in the story was way overdone. There are four parents consisting of two same-sex couples who have decided to live together and raise children together. These four have the following cultural backgrounds: Scottish Canadian, Indian, Jamaican and Mohawk. The first four kids are some kind of biological blend of the four parents (and one of these four has autism), the next three are adopted, the oldest of which is Filipino, the next one is transgender and the baby is developmentally disabled. It comes off like a deliberate attempt to include every single minority.
In addition, the parents are wealthy because they won the lottery the day the first child was born. Nobody has to work and all of the kids are homeschooled with all four parents home almost all the time. This is the fantasy family everyone wants to live in, but nobody actually does.
I had an issue with the fact that they had to go all the way to the Yukon to find a homophobic racist. There seems to be an implication that liberal, diverse Toronto is all happy and accepting of everybody. Toronto is my native city and, though it is a great place for people of all backgrounds to live, it is certainly not free of bigotry (sadly).
I was also bothered by the fact that the transgender child is not completely accepted as transgender. It bothers me on principle, but also because it is inconsistent with the characters. I find it difficult to believe that people who are so very open and accepting of everything else would have difficulty switching pronouns when their child insists he is "not a girl"!
That being said, I think this book would appeal to elementary-age readers because of its appeal to fantasy. Older readers, however, may find it difficult to relate to the characters for the same reason.
April 16, 2017
was sent an early copy of this book in return for my independent honest review. I rated this book 1.5* So sorry to rate one of my favourite authors so low. This is Emma Donahue's transition from adult fiction to middle grade. Unfortunately this just didn't work for me. As I love this authors adult books, I was so excited to read this new release. The premise sounded exciting and so promising. My overall thought is the old adage 'Less is More' it's as if she thought of everything she wanted to put in a novel for younger people and threw it all into one book. There is a decent plot somewhere and the messages that this work is wanting to portray are important, however in my opinion the execution was not good. There are two families who have won the lottery and changed their surnames to The Lotterys. The 'whole' new family are not what once was termed 'A Traditional Family' with heterosexual parents and varying number of children,but is made up of two lesbian mothers and two gay fathers. There are seven children all named after trees, and one is perhaps transgender. I like the idea that all the children have male and female role models in this family unit, which celebrates diversity, however I didn't think it was particularly well done. I usually love how Donahue portrays her characters in her adult work, from what I read, I didn't particularly feel endeared to any of them in this. The plus One is Grandpa, an actual parent to one of the adults and is stereotypical of a much older generation who doesn't particularly understand diversity or unusual family living. Unfortunately after a while I had to give up on this book. Too much diversity thrown into one place without enough substance and too confusing plot, spoilt the enjoyment for me.
May 3, 2018
Eccentric, unconventional, diverse and lively, The Lotterys Plus One is the story of a family unlike any other you've ever met.
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Everything is jolly at the Lottery household until PopCorn's dad (one of the grandfathers) is brought to Camelottery (the Lotterys' home) so they can assess if he is still able to live by himself. Nicknamed Grumps, he is not happy to be there, and seven children, particularly Sumac, are not sure what to make of their estranged grandfather. As it becomes apparent this may need to be a more long-term arrangement, the concept of home and where one belongs is explored, and Sumac struggles to figure out if Grumps has a place in her concept of family.
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Although I applaud the diversity (the family consists of a wide variety of ethnicities and sexualities) there is really too much going on in this family. The parents are two same sex couples (all with nicknames like CardaMom and PapaDum), all from different countries, the kids are both natural and adoptive from a wide range of backgrounds...even the dog only has three legs. I think it comes off as over the top, and almost felt mocking, when I'm sure the intention was humor. Yet I'd love to see more families in books that are multiracial, homeschooling, open-minded and tolerant of differences, and that was certainly achieved in this book.
.
Everything is jolly at the Lottery household until PopCorn's dad (one of the grandfathers) is brought to Camelottery (the Lotterys' home) so they can assess if he is still able to live by himself. Nicknamed Grumps, he is not happy to be there, and seven children, particularly Sumac, are not sure what to make of their estranged grandfather. As it becomes apparent this may need to be a more long-term arrangement, the concept of home and where one belongs is explored, and Sumac struggles to figure out if Grumps has a place in her concept of family.
.
Although I applaud the diversity (the family consists of a wide variety of ethnicities and sexualities) there is really too much going on in this family. The parents are two same sex couples (all with nicknames like CardaMom and PapaDum), all from different countries, the kids are both natural and adoptive from a wide range of backgrounds...even the dog only has three legs. I think it comes off as over the top, and almost felt mocking, when I'm sure the intention was humor. Yet I'd love to see more families in books that are multiracial, homeschooling, open-minded and tolerant of differences, and that was certainly achieved in this book.
August 12, 2017
The Lotterys Plus One
by Emma Donoghue (Goodreads Author), Caroline Hadilaksono
Synopsis
Sumac Lottery is nine years old and the self-proclaimed "good girl" of her (VERY) large, (EXTREMELY) unruly family. And what a family the Lotterys are: four parents, children both adopted and biological, and a menagerie of pets, all living and learning together in a sprawling house called Camelottery. Then one day, the news breaks that one of their grandfathers is suffering from dementia and will be coming to live with them. And not just any grandfather; the long dormant "Grumps," who fell out with his son so long ago that he hasn't been part of any of their lives.
Suddenly, everything changes. Sumac has to give up her room to make the newcomer feel at home. She tries to be nice, but prickly Grumps clearly disapproves of how the Lotterys live: whole grains, strange vegetables, rescue pets, a multicultural household... He's worse than just tough to get along with -- Grumps has got to go! But can Sumac help him find a home where he belongs?
Review
This book is about family and how they can come in all shapes and sizes. Emma Donoghue does a marvelous job of showing that its OK to have two mums or two dads, it doesn't change how children are loved or cared for. Sumac's parents won the lottery and no longer have to work but just care for their ever-growing household and volunteer for causes they believe in is lovely.
Sumac Lottery, who prides herself on being the most level-headed member of the clan. That is, until her idyllic world is invaded by an unfamiliar, aging grandparent suffering from dementia. He is the father of one of the Lottery dads, long estranged due to the older man’s intolerance of his son’s identity. As the story unfolds, Sumac and the rest of the family learn that sometimes the people who seem the most contrary and sometimes downright mean, are the ones who require love the most.
This book was a poignant story brilliantly written and one everyone should read.
by Emma Donoghue (Goodreads Author), Caroline Hadilaksono
Synopsis
Sumac Lottery is nine years old and the self-proclaimed "good girl" of her (VERY) large, (EXTREMELY) unruly family. And what a family the Lotterys are: four parents, children both adopted and biological, and a menagerie of pets, all living and learning together in a sprawling house called Camelottery. Then one day, the news breaks that one of their grandfathers is suffering from dementia and will be coming to live with them. And not just any grandfather; the long dormant "Grumps," who fell out with his son so long ago that he hasn't been part of any of their lives.
Suddenly, everything changes. Sumac has to give up her room to make the newcomer feel at home. She tries to be nice, but prickly Grumps clearly disapproves of how the Lotterys live: whole grains, strange vegetables, rescue pets, a multicultural household... He's worse than just tough to get along with -- Grumps has got to go! But can Sumac help him find a home where he belongs?
Review
This book is about family and how they can come in all shapes and sizes. Emma Donoghue does a marvelous job of showing that its OK to have two mums or two dads, it doesn't change how children are loved or cared for. Sumac's parents won the lottery and no longer have to work but just care for their ever-growing household and volunteer for causes they believe in is lovely.
Sumac Lottery, who prides herself on being the most level-headed member of the clan. That is, until her idyllic world is invaded by an unfamiliar, aging grandparent suffering from dementia. He is the father of one of the Lottery dads, long estranged due to the older man’s intolerance of his son’s identity. As the story unfolds, Sumac and the rest of the family learn that sometimes the people who seem the most contrary and sometimes downright mean, are the ones who require love the most.
This book was a poignant story brilliantly written and one everyone should read.
June 11, 2022
Kids who like the Vanderbeekers series may like this one too.
September 15, 2017
I picked this book primarily because I love Emma Donoghue. I was thinking it was pretty different from her other books, but then I realized that all of her books are actually pretty different from each other. It’s about a family made up of 2 moms, 2 dads, 7 kids, and a ton of money, so they live this family-centered hippie life where all the kids direct their own educations and all the parents are always around. At first, I was like “This is my ideal growing up experience.” But as it went on, I felt like, if I were to meet these people in real life, I would find them to be pretty insufferable. Let’s be real, a lot of it is because of their money, and they did seem pretty generous with it, like that scene where . Plus, they probably wouldn’t care about my opinion about their insufferability, since they primarily just hung out with each other in their little utopia. And I did like the story. I liked the culture shock of their “normal” grandpa coming to live with them, and the characters were fun to learn about, even if I did start rolling my eyes whenever a new cutesy nickname for something came up. Everything had some little family in-joke nickname. My main frustration with the story was how . But despite all my complaints, overall, I actually liked this book a lot. I liked the effortless diversity and how solid the whole family unit was. I thought it was a really sweet, easy read, and I would definitely read another book about this family.
June 14, 2021
I liked this book. I was very impressed at how many small events the author was able to fit into these amount of pages. I thought the story was capturing, and I especially liked how she described the younger kids doing such cute and realistic things! Now for my complaints.
It fell short with the characters. This would have been a four or five star book, but I feel like the characters were not defined enough. They would have a unique character trait, but then totally contradict it later in the story, or another character would have that same character trait. I felt like both dads and both moms were the same, as well as many of the kids.
Also, the Brian situation was very unexplained. Brian made it clear that she (they? He? I will say she/her for now because that's how they refer to her in the story ) was not a girl. But she also made it seem like she was non-binary at some points in the story. But the biggest thing was that even though she made it clear she was not a girl, the whole family referred to her as one. Using girl pronouns, and calling her a girl behind her back. The family is either, unwilling to comply with Brian's wishes, or the author has some explaining to do.
Also, there was a big mess up in the beginning. I don't remember the exact words, but it said something like the three oldest siblings were at camp, and then they said that the two oldest kids were at camp. First it says Sumac is the fifth child, then it says she is the fourth. I am surprised the editor caught this.
Finally, the family nicknames were a bit much. Calling the dining room "the mess" and stuff is ok, but I find it very unrealistic that they would stick with the way their kid pronounced a thing just when they heard them wrong once. Like, the Spare Oom, or the Uh-oh (a museum) or the Derriere (their porch). I thought this was all a bit unrealistic, and it seemed like the author was trying to hard to make this seem like a fun and authentic family.
Overall I think most of the story was good, and I was interested in the plot.
It fell short with the characters. This would have been a four or five star book, but I feel like the characters were not defined enough. They would have a unique character trait, but then totally contradict it later in the story, or another character would have that same character trait. I felt like both dads and both moms were the same, as well as many of the kids.
Also, the Brian situation was very unexplained. Brian made it clear that she (they? He? I will say she/her for now because that's how they refer to her in the story ) was not a girl. But she also made it seem like she was non-binary at some points in the story. But the biggest thing was that even though she made it clear she was not a girl, the whole family referred to her as one. Using girl pronouns, and calling her a girl behind her back. The family is either, unwilling to comply with Brian's wishes, or the author has some explaining to do.
Also, there was a big mess up in the beginning. I don't remember the exact words, but it said something like the three oldest siblings were at camp, and then they said that the two oldest kids were at camp. First it says Sumac is the fifth child, then it says she is the fourth. I am surprised the editor caught this.
Finally, the family nicknames were a bit much. Calling the dining room "the mess" and stuff is ok, but I find it very unrealistic that they would stick with the way their kid pronounced a thing just when they heard them wrong once. Like, the Spare Oom, or the Uh-oh (a museum) or the Derriere (their porch). I thought this was all a bit unrealistic, and it seemed like the author was trying to hard to make this seem like a fun and authentic family.
Overall I think most of the story was good, and I was interested in the plot.
November 22, 2016
Emma Donoghue wrote a kid's book! With a HUGE premise. The Lotterys is this mish-mash of a family consisting of 4 parents (a man from the Yukon paired with a man from India and a Cherokee woman paired with a woman from the Caribbean), 7 kids from various corners of the world and several pets. But that's just the backdrop. What the story is really about is what happens when the Lotterys (the family won it big on the lottery just as their first child was being born) bring home a grandfather - a very prickly, old-fashioned, narrow-minded grandfather who is losing his marbles. The story is told from Sumac's point of view - a precocious nine-year-old right in the middle of the whole family.
This book was very precious - one dad does all the cooking and it's always super healthy, super whole-grainy. The kids choose chores out of a hat, and there are cute nicknames for EVERYTHING. To give you an example,the parents are known as PopCorn, Papadum, MaxiMum and Cardimum. The attic is the Artic because they do art there. The children are named after trees. It just goes on and on.
But if you can get past the big wall of cuteness, there is a decent story at the centre. And Donoghue does know her trade. While I had a hard time getting into the book, she does know how write and how to create characters. By the end I was hooked into these people and their lives. They are satisfyingly flawed for all their pompus do-goodery. The grandfather was a great character, and while Sumac got a little annoying at times, she was a fine choice for narrator. I think kids would be drawn to the big old house and the lively gang, while adults might enjoy chewing on this odd family arrangement and whether or not it would work. I'm curious to hear other thoughts...
-Kirsten
This book was very precious - one dad does all the cooking and it's always super healthy, super whole-grainy. The kids choose chores out of a hat, and there are cute nicknames for EVERYTHING. To give you an example,the parents are known as PopCorn, Papadum, MaxiMum and Cardimum. The attic is the Artic because they do art there. The children are named after trees. It just goes on and on.
But if you can get past the big wall of cuteness, there is a decent story at the centre. And Donoghue does know her trade. While I had a hard time getting into the book, she does know how write and how to create characters. By the end I was hooked into these people and their lives. They are satisfyingly flawed for all their pompus do-goodery. The grandfather was a great character, and while Sumac got a little annoying at times, she was a fine choice for narrator. I think kids would be drawn to the big old house and the lively gang, while adults might enjoy chewing on this odd family arrangement and whether or not it would work. I'm curious to hear other thoughts...
-Kirsten
May 12, 2017
I listened to the audio version and loved it! For me, this isn't just a book about blending families or tolerance toward different groups and it really struck me as something quite special.
Ok, so, two male partners and two female partners who are such great friends they decide to live together and raise a house full of kids of all varieties. Luckily, they win the lottery and are able to get an amazing house and quit their jobs so they can home school their kids and have all sorts of great adventures. All the while they eat healthy, are good to the environment, make sizable charitable donations and there's tons of love to go around. Well, this is all super lovely and enlightened and, quite frankly, I'm a little jealous. But the thing about this is they have things to learn about tolerance and love too. No matter what kind of special snowflake you are, it can sometimes be difficult to remember everyone has their own path and it doesn't make them any less special. Anyway, one of the dad's fathers has to come live with them. He has the possible beginnings of dementia. He is a curmudgeon who doesn't understand his gay son or anything about the family ways. He is super grouchy about pretty much everything. In fact, he lives with them for almost two weeks before realizing that little Brian is a girl who chose to change her name from Briar to Brian when she was two. She hasn't actually chosen to be a boy but she also refuses to be called a girl. This story isn't really about the old dude changing his ways either. It's told from the point of view of one of the children. It shows her processing that maybe she isn't as tolerant as she thought. The book really touches on so many things. The characters are all kind of flawed and growing in their own ways. For me, it's about seeing the special in everyone and about loving your tribe no matter how unlikely they seem to fit.
I highly recommend the audio version. I think those that have given a low score or dnf or couldn't handle all the nicknames should give the audio a chance too. I mean, try and loosen up. For me, all the nicknames and voices just added to the feeling of chaos and love and closeness and feelings of a big family living together. Doesn't matter if you have a thirty room house or a six room house, kids play and learn and try to understand things. Adults need to try harder for these things. We all have things to learn. It's just a matter of admitting it. :) This book has so much to offer. I look forward to more adventures with the Lottery family.
Ok, so, two male partners and two female partners who are such great friends they decide to live together and raise a house full of kids of all varieties. Luckily, they win the lottery and are able to get an amazing house and quit their jobs so they can home school their kids and have all sorts of great adventures. All the while they eat healthy, are good to the environment, make sizable charitable donations and there's tons of love to go around. Well, this is all super lovely and enlightened and, quite frankly, I'm a little jealous. But the thing about this is they have things to learn about tolerance and love too. No matter what kind of special snowflake you are, it can sometimes be difficult to remember everyone has their own path and it doesn't make them any less special. Anyway, one of the dad's fathers has to come live with them. He has the possible beginnings of dementia. He is a curmudgeon who doesn't understand his gay son or anything about the family ways. He is super grouchy about pretty much everything. In fact, he lives with them for almost two weeks before realizing that little Brian is a girl who chose to change her name from Briar to Brian when she was two. She hasn't actually chosen to be a boy but she also refuses to be called a girl. This story isn't really about the old dude changing his ways either. It's told from the point of view of one of the children. It shows her processing that maybe she isn't as tolerant as she thought. The book really touches on so many things. The characters are all kind of flawed and growing in their own ways. For me, it's about seeing the special in everyone and about loving your tribe no matter how unlikely they seem to fit.
I highly recommend the audio version. I think those that have given a low score or dnf or couldn't handle all the nicknames should give the audio a chance too. I mean, try and loosen up. For me, all the nicknames and voices just added to the feeling of chaos and love and closeness and feelings of a big family living together. Doesn't matter if you have a thirty room house or a six room house, kids play and learn and try to understand things. Adults need to try harder for these things. We all have things to learn. It's just a matter of admitting it. :) This book has so much to offer. I look forward to more adventures with the Lottery family.
May 8, 2018
I really wanted to love this book. I feel that middle grade books about diversity and diverse families are invaluable, and in this respect The Lotterys Plus One succeeds. Sumac is nine years old and has four parents and many siblings. They all live happily together until PopCorn’s ailing father comes for an extended visit. Grumps lives up to his nickname - he’s cantankerous, conservative, and set in his ways. He doesn’t treat any of the kids as his family, so Sumac decides that he isn’t her family, either. What transpires is a series of events, culminating in more empathy and understanding from everyone.
I like the moral of this novel. I really do. I also like Sumac, with her thirst for knowledge and aversion to change. The problem is that there are too many characters, and other than Sumac and Grumps, they never become fully three-dimensional. Everyone is quirky and interesting, and the family has their own inside jokes and slang. I like the idea, but the constant barrage makes it harder for readers to find their footing in such an insular community. In many ways I felt a bit like Grumps, in a state of bewilderment and confusion. Maybe that’s the point, but it didn’t quite work for me.
I like the moral of this novel. I really do. I also like Sumac, with her thirst for knowledge and aversion to change. The problem is that there are too many characters, and other than Sumac and Grumps, they never become fully three-dimensional. Everyone is quirky and interesting, and the family has their own inside jokes and slang. I like the idea, but the constant barrage makes it harder for readers to find their footing in such an insular community. In many ways I felt a bit like Grumps, in a state of bewilderment and confusion. Maybe that’s the point, but it didn’t quite work for me.
December 20, 2020
I didn't realize this was young adult fiction until I started reading. I was pleasantly surprised that it was such an engaging read.
April 25, 2017
So much conversation....detracted from movement of the storyline. Really wonder what 4th-6th graders think of this book!
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