Saving Mrs. Roosevelt

Saving Mrs. Roosevelt is an historical fiction novel set in Lubec, Maine which  is on the coast line near the Bay of Fundy and on the Canadian Border. Author Candace Sue Patterson writes about a 22 year old woman named Shirley Davenport. Shirley lives with her parents. She has four older brothers and two of them are serving in the military during World War II. The first line in the book is "Shirley Davenport is a breath away from dying. Of Boredom." Shirley helps her father with his lobster boat and helps her mother with chores but she wants more. When Shirley and her best friend Joan hear about an opportunity for women to serve in the military they jump at the chance. The Coast Guard has started a school for females so they can take over some duties freeing the men up to serve overseas. Joan has better clerical skills so she goes to training in Florida. Shirley has skills in handling a boat and repairing marine equipment so she gets sent to train in Iowa. Nearby Lubec is an island that is technically in Canada but is also where President Roosevelt and his wife have a summer home. The military gets word that enemy spies are planning to kill Mrs. Roosevelt because she is interested in more immigrants entering America. The signals about this plot are originating in Lubec. Shirley is asked to return to her town and try to discern who is the spy. This was a good story although it was sometimes silly and obviously trying to pull at my heart strings.