PW #239: YA Contemporary; THE SENATOR’S OTHER DAUGHTER

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentor Name: Stephanie Scott and Valerie Cole
Mentee Name: Jenn Kompos
Title: THE SENATOR’S OTHER DAUGHTER
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Word Count: 75,000

Pitch:

After her mother dies, seventeen-year-old Lily discovers the father she never knew is a U.S. senator. Seeking answers, Lily takes a job as the senator’s nanny—concealing her identity. If the truth’s discovered, Lily risks her father’s political career, the boy she’s falling for, and her newfound family’s trust.

Excerpt:

This will never be home.

As soon as I climb out of Aunt Amelia’s car, I know I can’t take another day in Georgetown. Everywhere I glance, there’s a potential sketch. As if the row houses lined up like soldiers at attention and the stores full of textures and colors aren’t bad enough, I’m surrounded by a never-ending parade of people begging me to notice the details of their faces. Here comes a little girl eating a cupcake. There goes an old couple hand-in-hand as they cross the street. Before, I would have grabbed my sketchbook and sketched and sketched and sketched. Now, I think I’m going to be sick.

The panic builds until I don’t know how I’m going to get through this shopping trip—not on what should be Mom’s birthday. I want to go home. I know it’s stupid. Home doesn’t exist anymore. But I also know I have to convince Aunt Amelia to let me leave this summer.

I slam the car door and hurry after my aunt. I push my way through the crowd, salmon mode, to follow her into the boutique my cousin Kayleigh disappeared into.

It’s the kind of store Mom hated. Designer clothes are elegantly displayed on tables and racks in a just so manner and the place even smells expensive—vanilla, natural fibers and leather all rolled into one.

Aunt Amelia, however, turns toward me smiling. “Oh, good, there you are, Lily. I’m so glad we decided to do this, aren’t you?”