When Audrey Met Alice

December 16, 2013
In Behrens’s entertaining debut, 13-year old-Audrey Rhodes finds life as the President’s daughter stifling. Audrey’s big party is canceled over a security breach, her classmates only see her as “Fido” (short for First Daughter), her mother is busy running the country, and her father is occupied with cancer research. When Audrey discovers the hidden journal of former First Daughter Alice Roosevelt, “the nation’s first celebrity” (as Behrens puts it in an afterword) and a freewheeling wild child, she finds a kindred spirit. Audrey’s Alice-inspired adventures don’t always turn out well (like the flapper dress she wears to a state dinner), but they get Audrey on the road to “eating up the world,” as Alice likes to say. Alice’s (invented) journal entries appear throughout and offer a window into the life of this fearless historical figure though, as Behrens notes, “when it came to good fiction versus factual accuracy, fiction won.” Details of life in the White House, combined with Audrey’s more ordinary struggles (including the potential for a first boyfriend), will keep readers hooked. Ages 9–up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary & Media.

December 15, 2013
This charming debut brings Alice Roosevelt to life when 13-year-old "first daughter" Audrey finds Alice's century-old diary and turns to it for advice. Audrey finds the White House to be more like a prison than a privilege, especially since her mom, the president, and her dad, a cancer researcher, find little time for her. Security concerns ruin her first party, and she has difficulty making friends at school. Poking around in a White House closet, Audrey finds a long-hidden diary that belonged to Alice Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's spirited oldest daughter, and discovers that Alice shared many of her problems. Alice was older and much more rebellious, keeping a garter snake in her bag and smoking on the White House roof; she famously said she wanted to "eat up the world." Audrey adopts Alice as her role model, making a bracelet for herself with the initials WWAD: What Would Alice Do? Audrey's efforts to imitate Alice, however, only land her in more hot water. Behrens invents a fictional Alice, as she reveals in her author's note, and writes the diary entries in credible period prose that's still accessible to modern readers. Audrey knows that she's just a normal girl for all that she lives in the White House, making Audrey and the story nicely accessible. An appealing journey and a fascinating life. (bibliography) (Fiction. 9-12)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 5-8-When Audrey Rhodes's mother becomes president, the eighth grader finds life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue strikingly lonely. She feels suffocated by the Secret Service protection, even at school, which makes conversations with her classmates awkward and "plastic." Her parents' jobs are exceedingly hectic, leaving little time for family. Just as Audrey's life continues to go unnoticed by all, she finds the secret diary of a previous First Daughter, Alice Roosevelt, all entries signed "To Thine Own Self Be True, Alice." Her experiences mirror those of Audrey, yet her ambition to "eat up the world" provides Audrey with motivation to take charge of her life. According to Alice, wearing daring clothes, sneaking boys into the White House, and crashing a golf cart on the lawn are just a few of the fun things that Audrey can do as First Daughter. In the end, though, Audrey uses her position to make a bold political statement. Behrens's juxtaposition of Alice Roosevelt's voice with that of Audrey's builds genuine personas for each First Daughter. Teens will find Alice's wild diary entries outrageous and riveting. Girls, especially, will fall in love with her as she sneaks champagne and her pet garter snake into dinner parties, dances on the roof in her undergarments, and much more. Behrens's conversational writing style keeps the story moving, and will engage even reluctant readers. This book aims to inspire and stir young girls to unearth their inner Alice Roosevelt and to "eat up the world." A rowdy and winning addition.-Mary-Brook J. Townsend, The McGillis School, Salt Lake City, UT

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2014
Grades 5-8 Audrey lives in the White House with her mother, the president; and her father, a scientist researching cancer. Attending a new school in a new city is hard enough, but the intense security requirements make the simplest social activities nearly impossibleand the lack of parental involvement leaves her at loose ends. When she discovers Alice Roosevelt's diary under a closet floorboard, Audrey recognizes it as a national artifact. Still, she keeps it secret, treasuring her connection with Alice and using her journal as a unique window into how another first daughter managed to hold onto her sense of self in spite of everything. The juxtaposition of Audrey and Alice's stories creates an interesting counterpoint of past and present. Behrens' research into Alice, her family, and the early 1900s makes this an informative book as well as an entertaining one. While the fictional diary entries sometimes go on too long, the first-person narrative is consistently engaging. An enjoyable first novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)