Customer Reviews

White House Autumn (President's Daughter)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first read this series in junior high school and at 22, my high school friends and I still pepper our conversations with lines from these books. Meg is a high school senior, whose mother happens to be president. The story opens with Meg fighting with her mother over what to wear to school. A few pages later she is called from class to learn her mother has been shot. She and her brothers must learn to deal with their mother's injuries and recovery as they struggle with being in the spotlight. Although it may sound grim, the book has many great one-liners, particularly in scenes with her mother's press secretary Preston, her friend Beth and her boyfriend Josh, who I believe may have been incorrectly identified as Jeff in a prior review.

Like its predecessor, I found myself unable to put the book down until I had read the very last page. I stayed up until 5 in the morning to finish it, and it was worth every minute (good thing I didn't have work the next day). Not as light as The President's Daughter, the first book in the trilogy, White House Autumn is bit more depressing and a bit more adult as it tells what happens to Meg and her family when her mother, the President, is shot. It's a serious subject, and the author deals with it in a very mature, realistic and sympathic way. Of course, all of the other great qualities of the first book is still present in this one. The characters are as likable as ever, especially Meg's best friend, Beth, who I'm sure would've been my idol had I read this book when I was younger. The conversation is witty, and the situations and the way the characters deal with them are very true to life. Admittedly not as great as the President's Daughter, but nevertheless a wonderful wonderful read. Try to get your hands on this one.

I have read and reread (and loved, especially the first one) all three Meghan Powers books in their original editions. I am grateful to Hawk Publishing for reprinting these three books (now called the "President's Daughter" series) so that more people can enjoy them, but I do feel that people should know that these reprints are not high quality. They are trade paperbacks with bindings that seem sturdy enough, but the text is not at all crisp -- in fact, it looks like the publisher may have enlarged the pages from the original mass market editions on a Xerox machine and then reprinted these new editions from those copies. I am basing this guess on the fact that the text looks enlarged and somewhat blurry.

The covers of all three of the reprint editions are hideous; the first one shows a girl who looks to be about 8 or 10 years old instead of a teenager, and the "White House Autumn" cover is not much better. The price is also steep at $14.95. I can excuse that on the basis that Hawk is probably a small press, and small presses find it hard to make ends meet.

If you can get past all that, these books are marvelous to read. "White House Autumn" continues to use Meg's unique voice and sense of humor. The book also deals with Meg's feelings of guilt when her mother is the subject of an assassination attempt. Again, I am grateful to Hawk for reprinting these, even if the quality is a little disappointing.

While I still do enjoy reading about Meg and her family's life at the White House, I felt like this book was way too narrow-focused. I realize that the shooting of the President would be an extremely serious event, but I definitely feel it was far too drawn out and could have easily been condensed, leaving room for other stories. I did like seeing some of the characters develop a little more, particularly Steven, through their interactions with Meg. I felt like Meg's temperament after the shooting was accurate, but again, narrow. I would have liked to see more of how others were reacting. We got a glimpse of what was going through Steven's mind, but not really Neal's or especially her cryptic father's. I mean, at the beginning of the book, I was convinced that her parents were going to divorce, which, horrible as it is, would make a really interesting story. It's a little drastic then, to see the relationship between Meg's parents be slightly awkward, wobbly, and unsure, to the most steadfast, loving relationship out there. In general though, the Powers family just has the most personality of any book family I've read about (except maybepossibly the Weasleys). I think the one most powerful line of this book was Meg's mother talking about her shooter, saying only "I hope he gets help." Such a simple line ends up conveying so much about everything: decorum at the white house, her mother's compassion, her mother's position. Amazing. Again, it's a good book, but I'm hoping it's one of those that's a bridge to better sequels.

Rating: 3.5/5

Although this is technically a YA book, the only real "teen" thing about it is Meg's age. She, her siblings, parents and various White House personas are thoroughly fleshed out, as well as the multitude of psychological issues that come along with being the child of a president. White intertwines this with Meg's thoughts -- usually zany, humorous or sarcastic -- which keep it from ever becoming too serious.

Ellen Emerson White can do no wrong. I loved the original and she made this re-release even better. I wish she wrote faster b/c I would read anything she wrote.

Meg Powers is just a normal teenage girl living in Washington, D.C. -- except for the tiny little fact that her mother is the President of the United States.

Meg is actually getting used to living in the big, white house with her parents and two brothers, Steven and Neal. But when a gunman tries to take the life of the President, Meg faces the scary facts about being the First Family.

It's up to Meg to comfort her two brothers in between visiting their mother in the hospital and missing their father, who spends all of his time at the hospital, as well. And if that wasn't enough, Meg has to deal with the fact that her boyfriend, Josh, seems to be doing everything wrong. And can her friends really be real if they start acting weird around her because of her mother's accident?

Ellen Emerson White writes a compelling sequel about a teenage girl trying to understand the ropes of being the First Daughter. With WHITE HOUSE AUTUMN, the readers see a different side to the first family -- how stressful and scary it is to control security in an uncontrollable world.

Reviewed by: Steph

This is a great book - the 2nd book in the 4-book series about Meg Powers. Ellen Emerson White is SUCH a good author - The entire series is fabulous. I first read this book back in high school years ago. It Is about Meg and her family - her mother has just become the first woman President of the USA. Meg and her brothers have to have Secret Servicemen with them now all the time, which makes life difficult, and it tells how Meg feels about being part of the first family and how she handles things. drama AND comedy. And Meg must handle another diffucult situation - her mother is shot by an assasin. The President lives - but she was injured very badly. The whole family struggles to recover along wth Meg's Mother, who remains the President.
The President's Daighter is the first Book, Then White House Autumn, then Long Live the Queen...and recently, I was excited to find out that after all of these years, White has written a final book - Long May She Reign! Fabulous - I have loved the entire series.

This is the best book ever! I love the president's daughter. She is the Best. Always getting out of sticky situations. I don't know how she does it? When her mother, The President,gets shot(a really sticky situation) she is forced to mature like never before. It teaches girls of all ages what can happen any day, even if your the president's daughter! A real life, well almost, look into the life of the first family.

This is the best book ever! I love the president's daughter. She is the Best. Always getting out of sticky situations. I don't know how she does it? When her mother, The President,gets shot(a really sticky situation) she is forced to mature like never before. It teaches girls of all ages what can happen any day, even if your the prresident's daughter! A real life, well almost, look into the life of the first family.