Marissa and her little sister Clara are proud of their mother, the new president of the United States, but life in the White House is more constricting than they'd like. But then they find a hidden tunnel leading to an underground clubhouse full of mysterious old stuff, and an invitation to join the club of White House kids....and they sign it. They are whisked back in time to the White House of 1903, where Teddy Roosevelt's kids are up to all sorts of shenanigans. It's a fun break from real life for the two modern girls, but when they want to go home, they find they are stuck. The invitation they signed requires them to make a difference of some kind before they can go back to their own time.
When Marissa learns of plans afoot to bring industry and progress to the western states, at the expense of the natural world, including the giant sequoias, she decides that stopping this environmental destruction is the change she wants to make. So the sisters, aided, abated, and encouraged by Quentin and Ethel Roosevelt, stow away in the luggage traveling with the president on his whistle stop train tour out to the west coast. Four kids can't stay hidden in luggage forever but playing poker with the press corps and avoiding other, less friendly grown-ups won't save the sequoias...(though this is the aspect of the book that will most please readers here for "having adventures on trains")
But Alice Roosevelt, Teddy's oldest daughter (the one with the green snake, Emily Spinach) also snuck onto the train, and she gives Marissa advise that will help her bring Teddy back on track to being the defender of natural beauty that is his best legacy. It's very nicely done--the tension is great, the actions of the kids and the ways they effect change gripping and believable. Young (and even old) environmentalists will be inspired.
Time travel is primarily a plot mechanism; the modern girls are of course put out by the uncomfortable clothes of yesteryear, but the cultural/linguistic/technological differences aren't really the point. And since the Roosevelt kids know the sisters are time travelling, they are able to smooth over difficulties. That being said, the time travel, especially toward the end of the book, does loop in some emotional resonance that adds to an already kid-empowering story.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher
NB--White House Clubhouse is among many fine books eligible for this year's Cybils Awards in the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative fiction category (books published in the US/Canada for kids between Oct 16 2022 and Oct 15 2023). Show your favorite kids/YA books love! Nominations close October 15. Read more here #CYBILS2023 Public Nomination Period
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Glad you enjoyed White House Clubhouse. The time travel appeals to me too. I'm excited to interview Sean at Literary Rambles on Monday.
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