From Publishers Weekly
The sequel to Gore's debut Sammy's Hill (under film development) finds White House aide Samantha "Sammy" Joyce, now in her late 20s and suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, still handling crisis after crisis. Much trusted by now vice-president Robert Gary in her role as health research staffer, Sammy discovers President Wye is secretly drinking again. Then there's the president's father, who, while in a nursing home, may have been sexually accosted by an art teacher—and who dies leaving behind an out-of-wedlock infant. There's also the famous, short movie star, on drugs and with a very large head, who seems to be stalking Sammy. There are camel incidents on a conference trip to India, a reality TV show of the life of the former (and apparently senile) President Pile and possible leaks by a fellow staffer. There are any number of doings with Sammy's nearest and dearest, including highs and lows with Sammy's boyfriend, Washington Post journalist Charlie Lawton. The sense of overload may be intentional, but it's hard not to wish there were less. Still, the book is funny, and the wonk's-eye view of how legislation and trade deals get done (the author is Al Gore's middle daughter) is illuminating, and even inspiring. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gore's follow-up to her sparkling debut, Sammy's Hill (2004), finds Sammy Joyce established in the White House as a health-care policy advisor to Vice President Robert Gary. Her party is in power, but the opposition is as fierce as ever, with a group called the Exterminators working to undermine President Wye's every move and a White House insider writing a vicious blog that exposes every controversy going on behind the scenes. Sammy is the first to realize the stress is getting to the president when she discovers that he has mixed whiskey into a glass of soda, a sure sign that the former teetotaler has fallen off the wagon. More serious in tone than her first novel, Gore's second delves more deeply into the political realm Sammy inhabits. But her heroine remains compelling and thoroughly lovable, and readers will be thrilled to find Sammy back in the saddle again as she navigates the treacheries of Washington politics and her own love life. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
