Buffy Cummins, lead bookseller and assistant buyer at Second Star to the Right Children’s Books in Denver, shares her excitement about The Lotterys Plus One, the first novel for younger readers by Room author Emma Donoghue and illustrated by Caroline Hadilaksono, due out next March.
There is so much to love in Emma Donoghue’s middle reader debut. I’ll admit that I was glad to hear a sequel is in the works, as I definitely don’t feel finished with nine-year-old Sumac Lottery and her 11-person family – and I can’t wait to see more of Caroline Hadilaksono’s illustrations.
I smiled and laughed many times throughout my two readings of the novel. When Sumac and her father are on a plane together, the stewardess asks where her mom is. “I’ve got two,” Sumac tells her. “One of them is practicing aikido, and the other is running a free legal advice clinic. Also another dad who’s minding my siblings and making something called mulligatawny soup.” The stewardess isn’t quite sure how to respond, but readers will embrace the quirkiness of this multicultural Canadian family. When a grandfather Sumac has never met begins to show signs of dementia, the family brings him to live at their Toronto home, called Camelottery. Her grandfather is less than happy about this move, and Sumac isn’t sure how to feel about his reluctance to accept her family as they are.
I know some readers may accuse The Lotterys Plus One of being just a little too too much, but the longer I live and the more conversations I have with children and teens, the more I’m convinced that we all have a little too much in our lives. And our world is certainly as diverse as the wonderful and eclectic bunch who live in Camelottery. I’m so glad young readers can be a part of the fun.
I’m excited about sharing this book with only children who wish they weren’t, unschoolers, children from big families, anyone who loves a bit of a hippie element in their reading, book lovers (Sumac takes a book with her everywhere and the titles are usually mentioned), children who would like to see the diversity of their own families reflected in print, and anyone who welcomes a good intergenerational story with great character development.
The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donoghue, illus. by Caroline Hadilaksono. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99 Mar. ISBN 978-0-545-92581-5
