Sumac Lottery is the fifth of seven siblings who share a big house with their four parents, one grandfather and five pets. At age nine, she’s the keeper of her family’s traditions—always making sure the Lotterys’ celebrations go off without a hitch.

But this winter all of Sumac’s plans go wrong when a terrible ice storm hits the city, causing chaos. The emergency means that one of her dads and her favourite brother can’t make it home from India in time for the holidays. Their visitor from Brazil gets injured and the Lotterys have to look after him. Then the power goes out. . . .

The Lotterys More or Less is the second of Emma Donoghue’s stories about the family that likes to say, “Why not?”