Vote for BOOKS!

Election season is in full swing and if you are anything like me, you cannot WAIT until it is November and the whole thing is over. I do love politics but this particular election is making me go kinda batty - so I am indulging instead in patriotic pleasures like Hamilton, Madame Secretary and West Wing binges . . . and books! I have some electiony treats to share from my own authors this month: A great new picture book that tells the inspiring and zany true story of a couple of lesser-known women of the Suffragist movement, and the e-book reissue of one of my favorite childhood series. Think "If the West Wing was a YA book and Jed Bartlett was the first female president." W-O-W! 
Happy reading! 

PB - AROUND AMERICA TO WIN THE VOTE: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 miles - by Mara Rockliff
Illustrated by Hadley Hooper
​Candlewick Press, Aug 2

In April 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke set out from New York City in a little yellow car, embarking on a bumpy, muddy, unmapped journey ten thousand miles long. They took with them a teeny typewriter, a tiny sewing machine, a wee black kitten, and a message for Americans all across the country: Votes for Women! The women's suffrage movement was in full swing, and Nell and Alice would not let anything keep them from spreading the word about equal voting rights for women. Braving blizzards, deserts, and naysayers not to mention a whole lot of tires stuck in the mud the two courageous friends made their way through the cities and towns of America to further their cause. One hundred years after Nell and Alice set off on their trip, Mara Rockliff revives their spirit in a lively and whimsical picture book, with exuberant illustrations by Hadley Hooper bringing their inspiring historical trek to life. *** From the Booklist STARRED Review**** "Rockliff's snappy, sassy text is matched by Hooper's inventive illustrations, which crackle with activity... A delightful way to introduce two fascinating historical figures. Three, counting the kitten.

YA - THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER
by Ellen Emerson White
Now available via Kindle

Sixteen-year-old Meghan Powers likes her life just the way it is. She likes living in Massachusetts. She likes her school. And she has plenty of friends. But all that is about to change. Because Meg's mother, one of the most prestigious senators in the country, is running for President. And she's going to win. *** FANGIRL GUSHING *** Unforgettable, compulsively readable with outstanding characterization, and great banter. I loved this series when I was a kid, and I'm so happy that I get to work on these stories as an adult! This is the first in a four-book series about the teen daughter of the first woman president.

WHITE HOUSE AUTUMN by
​Ellen Emerson White 

After ten months of living in the White House, seventeen-year old Meg Powers knew she should be used to the pressures of life in the spotlight . . . but she wasn't. Then a shocking attack on her mother makes life in the White House even more impossible.

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN by
​Ellen Emerson White

Being the President's daughter isn't easy, but Meg's getting used to it. She's even starting to have a life again... okay, not a normal life, but things are beginning to fall into a routine. Then it happens. Machine guns blast, a van screeches to a halt, and masked men grab Meg and take her away. . .

LONG MAY SHE REIGN by
​Ellen Emerson White

Will Meg ever forgive her mother, the President, for her "can not, have not and will not negotiate with terrorists" stance even when it came to her own daughter? And more difficult still, can Meg forgive herself for having the strength, the intelligence and the wit to survive?