Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White

A lesser author would have created Quick Fixes with everyone happy in the end. A lesser author would have turned the mother into a monster because she doesn't fit the 'traditional' role of what a mother 'should' be (gasp, Meg's mom doesn't make cookies! Meg's mom isn't Carol Brady perfect! Meg's mom values her career and her children!). She is an accomplished woman (hello, President of the United States.) She isn't perfect and EEW never 'fixes' this. What is also great about Meg's mother is that she is full of shades of gray and insecurities.

Her mother's juggling act is not easy, especially when it comes down to what is best for the country versus what is best for her children. Meg's mother has made choices choices to go into politics, to be a Senator, to run for President. The relationship with her mother is extremely complex Meg loves her mother. Meg is a great character very real, and with a wicked sense of humor. Meg's mom has not only announced she is running for President. especially when she is a serious contender. They do care about the daughter of a woman running for President. The press may not care about a Senator's daughter. OK, so Mom is a Senator, but really? Who cares about that in the real world? Great best friend, good friends, gets along with her family. And she's pretty happy with her life in Massachusetts. So you'll find yourself laughing out loud. Tho, actually, I seem to remember Meg's brothers and parents commenting on her being a comedian.Īnyway, as you read the below plot descriptions (presidents, shootings, and kidnappings, oh my!) remember: it's all told thru the point of view of someone who is smart and who uses humor as a coping mechanism.

And not in a 'I'm a comedian' way it's very much in the manner of Melinda from Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It's not that the books are funny it's Meg who is funny. It's a connection that is made that the reader gets and laughs in recognition. In typical, trademark Ellen Emerson White style most of the humor is sarcastic or an observation. The President's Daughter series is made up of four books:īefore I go book by book, let me say: Meg Powers (the President's daughter) is funny. It wasn't easy picking what books to include this week there wasn't enough time to do them all, and in all honesty I prefer EEW's books for older readers (the teen and adult stuff.) So I focused on three 'sets', as it were the President's Daughter series, since the most recent volume is being published this year the Road Home and related books, because it is one of my three favorite EEW books and Friends for Life / Life Without Friends, because LWF is another one of my three favorite EEW books and because, well, you'll see when you read the post. Recommendations From Under the Radar: Ellen Emerson White's The President's Daughter series

Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White