The Lotterys More Or Less is a novel by Emma Donoghue, and a sequel to The Lotterys Plus One.
It's Christmastime in Toronto, and the Lotterys have big plans. The Winter Solstice and saying goodbye to Luiz, their guest from Brazil, PapaDum and Sic coming back from helping converting an old factory in India into an apartment building for the homeless, the Saturnalia Banquet, taking a dip in the ice cold lake to help polar bears, and of course, Christmas! Sumac is really looking forward to it, and can't think of anything that could possibly spoil their festivities.
And then the ice storm hits.
Now power is out across half the neighbourhood, PapaDum's and Sic's flight has been delayed, and a good number of their intended plans have been cancelled. All of Sumac's excitement for the holidays is now threatened, and she's feeling this may go from the best Christmastime ever, to one that sucks like a jet-powered vacuum cleaner.
The book was published on January 1st, 2018.
The Lotterys More Or Less contains examples of:
- Big Blackout: Electricity and central heating has been cut off for a good portion of Toronto.
- Bilingual Bonus: Luiz says a few words in Portuguese.
- Eloquent in My Native Tongue: Luiz speaks Portuguese better than English, it being the language he grew up with in Brazil and all.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Sumac has one while watching The Sound of Music. When listening to the song about Liesl and Rolf being in love, it dawns on her that Catalpa has a crush on Luiz.
- Eye Scream: Catalpa decides to let Luiz sled on the ice without a helmet. He ends up hitting his head on a tree stump, which results in a small tear happening in one of the retinas of his eye. He has to miss his flight home to recover, and has an air bubble placed in his eye to hold his retina in place to let it heal properly. This means he spends a lot of time with his head positioned face down.
- First Snow: When it starts snowing very faintly outside, Luiz is so excited to see it he runs out of the Camelottery in his flip-flops to experience it. Being from Brazil, Luiz never saw snow before.
- Shout-Out: Chapter 9 of the book is called "Food, Glorious Food".
- Somebody Named "Nobody": One of the Lotterys' neighbours is "Harry No Name". The Indian Agent from his home in Southern Saskatchewan couldn't spell his ancestor's name, so he wrote down "No Name" instead. Harry's used that name ever since.
- Title Drop: Happens at the end of the book. When PopCorn asks Sumac if she enjoyed the holidays, even a little bit, she responds with "More Or Less".
- Token Houseguest: Luiz, for this book.
