When Audrey Met Alice (18 page)

Thanks first to my wonderful agent, Suzie Townsend. Without her insight, support, and skill this book would not be in your hands. Thanks also to the entire team at New Leaf Literary. The agency doesn’t just represent writers, but truly nurtures them. In short, they’re the best.

Thanks to Aubrey Poole, my fantastic editor, whose vision and enthusiasm has turned this story into a real book. I am so grateful for the care she has shown Audrey and Alice—and me. Thanks also to everyone at Sourcebooks for copyediting, designing, marketing, publicizing, and selling my book so expertly. I am very fortunate to be a part of the Sourcebooks publishing family.

I’m lucky to have some of the most generous, intelligent, and well-read friends, and I sure took advantage of their help (and at least one couch) to write this book. Many thanks to the following for their opinions, expertise, and occasional moral support: Heather Alexander, Megan Drechsel Tomson, Ellen Tarlow, Kiki Aranita, Annabel Oakes, Kim Paymaster, David Wade, Emily Radford Ryan, Shane Ryan, Ruth White, and Jessica Stewart.

I wouldn’t be the writer—or the reader—I am today without the influence of many excellent teachers, librarians, and booksellers. Thank you for letting me loose in your libraries, as Alice would say.

Thanks to my parents for their encouragement and unwavering belief in me, and to my sister, Beth, for always being a boon companion. And most of all, thanks to Blake for encouraging me to create and dream. I wouldn’t have done it without you.

Rebecca Behrens grew up in Wisconsin, studied in Chicago, and now lives with her husband in New York City, where she works as a production editor for children’s books. She loves writing and reading about girls full of moxie and places full of history.
When
Audrey
Met
Alice
is her first book. Visit her online at
www.rebeccabehrens.com
.

To find out more about Alice Roosevelt and the real life events the inspired the journal entries in
When Audrey Met Alice
visit the Educators page at
Sourcebooks.com
.

Available for download:

Alice, For Real

A behind-the-scenes look at writing Alice’s diary. What’s true and what’s invented? This annotated edition of the journal entries from
When Audrey Met Alice
provides readers with an inside look at the sources, quotes and historical events that shaped Alice’s fictional diary.

When Audrey Met Alice Educators Guide

A Common Core Curriculum aligned educator’s guide for Grades 5 and 6 as well as tips for struggling readers and enrichment for advanced readers. Includes: 1) pre-reading question, 2) comprehension questions, 3) classroom activities, 4) a bibliography for further research, and 5) a list of standards.

Women’s History Month Lesson Plan

Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was a fascinating and funny woman. It’s not for nothing that her nickname became “The Other Washington Monument.” Rebecca Behrens captures Alice’s vivacious spirit, deep curiosity, lively wit, and fierce intelligence in the pages of
When Audrey Met Alice
. Alice’s mottos were To Thine Own Self Be True and Eat Up The World. When presented with all the challenges of adolescence, today’s young reader could do a lot worse than asking herself: What Would Alice Do?