The Someday Daughter

Gr 10 Up–Forced into a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of her mother’s bestselling self-help book, Audrey finds her own summer upended when her mother refuses to pay her tuition at an elite pre-college intensive program. A boarding school nerd eyeing medical school, Audrey planned to spend the summer studying with boyfriend Ethan. They’re focused that way, even if he’s either too proper or preoccupied to consummate their relationship—which she would like. Once they’re separated, Audrey crushes on Silas, a cute intern on the tour who’s freer and more emotionally present. Without her books and an academic agenda, Audrey finds herself capable of loosening up with Silas and the rest of the tour’s interns, and she likes it. The main characters are white, and one secondary character is gay. Silas sees himself as committed to Audrey, who describes their eventual sexual encounter—her first—like two magnets attracting. He’s much more than a summer crush: Audrey feels seen by Silas, as a privileged daughter of a successful but remote woman, both wanting her mother’s love and scared to reach for it. Risking all, her mother responds by sharing some personal history that her buttoned-up celebrity kept hidden for too long.