Review: Sam Makes a Splash (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #1)

Title: Sam Makes a Splash (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #1)
Author: Nicole Melleby
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 9, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From acclaimed author Nicole Melleby comes a cheerful, uplifting story of family and belonging, the first in new series perfect for fans of the Vanderbeekers and the Penderwicks.

If you want to get to know eleven-year-old Samantha Ali-O’Connor, you need to know three things:

One, she isn’t the only one of her siblings who is adopted, but she is the only one whose name isn’t inspired by the ocean.

Two, she and Harbor always compete with each other to be the best Oldest Sibling—and just about everything else.

And three, she is determined to prove she’s a real Ali-O’Connor by taking over the family business, repairing and chartering boats.

Except there’s a Capital-P Problem: Her mothers have been Serious Whispering about selling the business before summer’s end! Sam needs to come up with a plan, quick, before Harbor finds out. And before Sam loses her chance to inherit the business and be an Ali-O’Connor forever. 

Review:

Eleven-year-old Samantha Ali-O’Conner doesn’t feel like she belongs in her family. She’s one of two adopted siblings, but all of the other kids have names that are related to the ocean. She’s always competing with her sister Harbor, who is four months older than her and also has one of her mom’s boats named after her. Samantha thinks that the one way she could really belong in the family is to take over her mom’s boat repair business when she’s older. However, that may not be possible when she overhears her moms talking about closing the business. Samantha needs to come up with a plan to save her family’s legacy so she can finally belong.

This was such a great middle grade novel. I loved the character development. There were eight members of the Ali-O’Conner family, as well as many neighbours in the story, but they all felt like distinct, real people. Samantha’s story was relatable. Every child feels like they don’t belong somewhere at some point in their life, just like Samantha felt in her family. 

Samantha Makes a Splash is a great middle grade story!

Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for sending me a copy of this book!

Other books in the series:

• Marina in the Middle (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #2)
• Halfway to Harbor (The House on Sunrise Lagoon #3)

Have you read Sam Makes a Splash? What did you think of it?