Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution

Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution (2022) is a middle grade novel by Sherri Winston. The narrative follows Lotus Bloom, a seventh grader in Miami, Florida, who is attending the Atlantis School of the Arts, a newly built school for performing arts. As a violinist, Lotus sees the opportunity as a chance to pursue her music career—something that would not be possible with the limited resources of her old school, MacArthur Middle. However, when Lotus is bullied by jealous students that use her Black skin, afro, and retro-style as a source of ridicule, she faces pressure from her friends and family to stand up for herself and stand against the very school that gives her the opportunity she desperately wants. Lotus’s journey of empowerment and self-discovery explores themes of Collective Support Against Institutionalized Racism, Music in Personal and Political Expression, and Finding One’s Voice in the Fight Against Prejudice.

This guide is based on the paperback edition of the novel published by Bloomsbury in 2024.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of bullying, racism, anti-gay bias, and child abuse.

Plot Summary

Lotus Bloom is a seventh grade student in Miami, Florida. She starts her first day of school at Atlantis School of the Arts, a newly built school for students in the area who are talented in performing and visual arts. She walks with her best friend, Rebel Mitchell, who is continuing at MacArthur Middle School. Rebel argues with Lotus about her decision to go to Atlantis, insisting that the district is harming Black students by building a new school for millions of dollars—instead of putting money into MacArthur to benefit all students. She feels that Lotus is encouraging the district to take all of the talented students, like Lotus, out of MacArthur and funnel them into the new school, essentially abandoning the students they consider unworthy. Lotus tries to calm her down and make Rebel understand why she needs to go to Atlantis to benefit herself, but Rebel fails to understand. To calm Rebel down, Lotus plays music on her violin, allowing them to part congenially.

In her first week at Atlantis, Lotus is awed by the condition of the school, the food they get at lunch, the standard of the teachers, and the brand new musical equipment. She also meets several students, including Dion, Taj, and Mercedes, who all share her love of art and music.

Lotus starts in beginner orchestra class, but after the teacher asks the students to play a piece of music, she is immediately identified as too talented for the class. Instead, she is sent to advanced orchestra, where she is put in class with mostly older students. The teacher is Maestro Vasquez, a professional violinist, who recognizes Lotus’s talent and makes her concertmaster. However, Lotus replaces Adolpho Cortez, a student whose parents are huge donors to the school. She immediately recognizes his anger and annoyance and is warned by her violin first chair, Tati, that he will blame her for taking his spot.

Over the next several weeks, Lotus balances several things in her life that give her stress. The work at her new school is overwhelming, including her regular schoolwork like history and English as well as the work that Maestro demands of her. She struggles to connect with her father, who is a professional musician living in Paris, while desiring to move to Paris to attend a prestigious school and live with him. She also faces pressure from her mother, who insists that she needs to do well in school and not cause any trouble. Meanwhile, Adolpho begins bullying her, throwing paper airplanes into her afro—the part of her body that Lotus is most proud of, and sending around memes and videos comparing Lotus to Buckwheat, a 1930s Black television character who is portrayed as unintelligent and unkempt. Lotus keeps the bullying to herself, especially after her mother insists that getting Adolpho in trouble would only cause more trouble for her.

While Lotus deals with her problems at Atlantis, Rebel works toward bringing change to MacArthur. She organizes a large following on social media, gets dozens of members of the community to attend the board meetings, and even enlists a lawyer to talk about a lawsuit against the district. She repeatedly tries to get Lotus involved, but Lotus resists, unsure how to fight against Atlantis while still respecting it for the opportunity it affords her music career. When Lotus sees Rebel being interviewed on television over her work at MacArthur, she is overwhelmed with guilt and begins to wonder if she should be standing up for her fellow students.

As Adolpho’s bullying gets worse, Lotus decides to speak with the school’s dean, Mr. Mackie. She tells him what is bothering her, and he assures her that he will handle it. However, Lotus then receives a letter in the mail informing her that her afro is in violation of the school’s dress code, essentially blaming her for Adolpho’s bullying by insisting that her hair is causing a distraction. Devastated, Lotus speaks with her mother, who insists that she needs to change her hair, and her father, who stresses the importance of compromising. Ultimately, she decides to braid her hair and returns to school on Monday.

Lotus’s new hair causes conversation among her peers. Her friends stress their annoyance at her decision, seeing through Lotus’s efforts to convince them that she is just trying something new. Lotus herself is distraught, realizing that she has changed her identity to conform to the school, but doesn’t know how else to handle it.

Mr. Mackie holds a conference to discuss Lotus’s hair. Lotus is shocked when Adolpho and his parents are present and immediately feels as though she is being railroaded by the administration. Mr. Mackie tries to control the situation, but he is repeatedly spoken over by Mrs. Cortez. She complains about Lotus’s “unkempt” appearance and how it affects the entire orchestra, insisting that her new braids are not good enough. She demands that Lotus cut her hair or face expulsion. Before Mr. Mackie can respond, Lotus’s mother intervenes, yelling at Mrs. Cortez and insisting that her daughter is not going to cut her hair or drop out of the orchestra. She then angrily leaves with Lotus.

After the meeting, Lotus decides that she is no longer going to try to conform to the school’s standards. She puts her hair back into an afro. In doing so, she sees several of the students support her, instead turning their anger on Adolpho and throwing airplanes at him and his friends. She also speaks with Rebel, who vehemently agrees with Lotus’s choice and convinces her to come to the next board meeting to speak out against what she faced.

At the board meeting, Lotus is shocked by the number of people in attendance. She meets a reverend and an attorney, both of whom are supporting Rebel; however, through it all, she feels as though Rebel and her group have ulterior motives, using Lotus’s situation to shame Atlantis. When Lotus speaks at the meeting, it quickly devolves into shouting and arguing among the people gathered. Overwhelmed by annoyance and anger, Lotus goes to the front of the room to play her violin. She sees Mrs. Cortez and Adolpho off to the side arguing, with Mrs. Cortez blaming Adolpho and his failure at violin for the current situation with the board. While Adolpho tries to tell her he doesn’t even want to play violin, Mrs. Cortez slaps him.

Lotus pulls out her violin and plays for the entire meeting. When she finishes, she is shocked when everyone has fallen silent. However, it only lasts a few moments until they start arguing again. She then aggressively plays the theme from Psycho into the microphone, with the sharp notes bringing everyone to silence again. She tells the gathered group that she is disappointed in their inability to work together. She believes the two schools should pool their resources to benefit all Miami students instead of fighting. She then leaves the meeting, insisting that she does not want to attend a school with policies dictated by Mrs. Cortez.

The next morning, Lotus wakes up to find that her father has come from Paris, and he is there along with her mother, grandmother, Maestro, the district’s Superintendent, and an attorney. The Superintendent, Mr. Burr, profusely apologizes to Lotus. He tells her that he had no idea what was happening in the district. He assures her that Mrs. Cortez was overstepping and has no real power within the school, and that he is going to take care of the situation. He also tells her that he is putting together a committee to figure out how to share resources between Atlantis and MacArthur. Maestro then steps forward, and he apologizes to Lotus for not realizing what was happening in his classroom sooner. He insists that he wants her to be concertmaster and will support her—no matter what her hair is like or how she dresses.

After the group leaves, Lotus goes for a walk and speaks with Rebel. Rebel is annoyed and angry at Lotus, telling her that she did not do what was best for MacArthur and is turning her back on Rebel and the other students. After she leaves, Lotus’s friend, Tati, tells her that she is proud of what Lotus has done and that Rebel will come around if Lotus’s actions achieve actual change in the districts. Lotus is then surprised when Adolpho shows up. He apologizes for Lotus, telling her that he never realized how his actions would impact Lotus or the school, or how much his mother would get involved. He says that he is now going to work with Lotus to be the best orchestra that they can be, and Lotus believes him.