The Doughnut Club

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Author(s)

Kristina Rahim

Publisher

Nosy Crow

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

May 13, 2025

ISBN

979-8887771533

In this heartfelt and honest debut middle-grade novel, twelve-year-old Quinn seeks out her donor siblings, wondering if she will fit in better with them than she does with her own family.

Quinn loves her moms and little brother, but she often feels like the odd one out. She would much rather be quietly drawing than surfing or rock-climbing or whatever other intense activity her family is currently obsessed with.

Quinn has always known she is donor conceived. She's never been that interested in knowing about her donor. But when her moms tell her that she and her brother have sixteen other genetic siblings, her mind is blown. Maybe one of them will be more like her!

The only problem is her parents want her to wait until they are older to contact any of them. When Quinn goes behind their backs to find out more, she starts to lose sight of what is really important, especially when she starts to suspect her worst enemy - the dreaded Monika - might be one of her siblings. Can she find a way back to her family, while finding a way to tell them how she really feels?

Editor review

1 review

Vacation with a family mystery

May 07, 2025 (Updated: June 23, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Quinn and her brother Olly have always known that their two mothers, Jodi and Sam, conceived them with the help of a donor, and both kids are secure in their identity... most of the time. When the family takes a vacation to a beach hotel, Quinn has to deal with Monika, whom she has met in previous years. When they were younger, Monika asked why Quinn didn't have a father, and misinterpreted "donor" as "doughnut". Monika is mean and snarky, but the two keep getting thrown together in the acitivities at the hotel. Quinn has started to question why she's the only one in her family with red hair, and why she doesn't like the same activities that they do. When her mothers talk about finding the other children of her donor, Quinn is very interested, and doesn't want to wait until she is older. She logs into the account, and even upgrades it with the family debit card so she can message other members. She's already suspicious that one of the staff members might be related to her, but when she finds out that one of the donor siblings (or "diblings", as she puts it) lives nearby, she arranges to meet up with the family. All the while, she is afraid that Monika might be related to her, and spends so much time on her far flung family that she ignores Olly. When he runs off after Quinn doesn't watch him closely enough, she realizes that he means more to her than people she hasn't met. She has to come clean to her mothers about her investigations as well as her feelings of not belonging and not being understood.

Good Points

I'm not sure where exactly this was set, but I would have loved to spend a week at this hotel! It's near a beach, but had the feel of an all inclusive Pocono Mountains family camp. Since the author lives in England, and this is based on her own family's experiences, there must be family centered hotels on the British coast somewhere. Finding them may be my new life goal!

It was good to see that while Quinn did have questions about her background, she was fairly happy with her family situation. She even gets along with Olly, even though she doesn't pay as much attention to him while she is dealing with Monika and trying to connect with her donor siblings. Monika's experience of being a donor child who was told later in life about her family history was a nice contrast to Quinn having known about her background for as long as she could remember.

This reminded me strongly of the summer vacation stories Levy's The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island and Moon's Family Week that also showcase LGBTQIA+ families, or Robert's Nikki on the Line, which is one of the few middle grade books that specifically addresses children who are conceived through artificial insemination with donors. The Doughnut Club is the only book I've read that specifically addresses finding possible siblings.