The President Sent Me To My Room

November 05, 2012

The election is this week as we all know. So much is written about the people running for the Presidency, it is easy to think that we know everything about the candidates. But can we ever understand what their families, especially their children, must contend with? 

A beautiful quartet of books by Ellen Emerson White gives a fictional view of politics and the White House through the eyes of a candidate’s child. The President’s Daughter series follows Meg, the teenage daughter of a prominent senator, from the campaign trail through the tumultuous years of the White House. With everything from an attempted assassination to her own abduction by terrorists, Meg’s journey is one of trauma and triumph. And, the series presents a slightly different twist because the President is, in fact, Meg’s mother, the first female President.

Meg puts a human face on all the experiences that the child of someone in the spotlight, politician or other, must contend with. Her feelings of pressure in trying to always be perceived positively, and her frustration at not being able to simply be a teenager, must always contend with her pride and love of her mother. And when she becomes a victim of her mother’s position in a horrific way, she must also deal with her feelings of resentment and anger. When you have an entire country to be concerned with, where does your own daughter fit in?

These books remind us that behind all the posturing, stumping, debates, and advertisements lie real families with real children that must face the problems (and then some) we all face. They just must do it in front of the entire world. This series is an interesting read for all ages.

Titles in the series include: The President’s Daughter, White House Autumn, Long Live the Queen, Long May She Reign, Long May She Reign 

Make sure you get out and vote Tuesday, November 6.

Pamela M.
Antioch Branch