Meet my newest book crush: When Audrey Met Alice
by Rebecca Behrens, a novel starring Audrey Rhodes, the first daughter of the United States, who finds living in the White House restrictive rather than exciting. Everything changes for Audrey when she discovers the diary of Alice Roosevelt, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. Alice’s antics and fashion sense made international headlines in the early 1900s, and now her stories are inspiring Audrey to have a little fun. Things backfire for Audrey until she takes to heart using her position to make her own political statement.
I’ve been telling all my work friends about my love for Audrey and Alice (Alice did yoga! She spoke her mind! She would have fought for marriage equality, just like Audrey!). I love the set up of this book and how Alice’s personality comes through, planting a seed for wanting to know more – about the White House, about what life would have been like in the early 1900s, about other presidencies and families. But it’s the setting of today’s White House and the fully-developed character of Audrey that are the real hooks.
A few other choice titles featuring daughters of presidents (or potential POTUS):
- The Ghost, the White House, and Me by Judith St. George
- As If Being 12-3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President! by Donna Gephart
- Liberty Porter, First Daughter by Julia DeVillers
- The Case of the Bug on the Run by Martha Freeman (First Kids chapter book series)
Beyond the obvious fascination of imagining celebrity and intrigue, what do you think is the appeal of a White House story?
