REBECCA THE WHITE HOUSE RACCOON

A White House trash panda (and deeply unreliable narrator) tells her life story at last.

According to the facts as we know them, in 1926 a live raccoon was sent to the White House to serve as President Calvin Coolidge’s Thanksgiving dinner. Animal lover that he was, he opted instead to adopt the wild creature, swiftly making her a darling of the general public. Now Rebecca the raccoon is here to give her side of the story. As Rebecca tells it, both Calvin and First Lady Grace added her to a household that included everything from a pygmy hippo to lion cubs. While the real Rebecca was deemed too wild for domesticated society and eventually sent to live in a zoo, the Rebecca on this page ultimately wins over everyone, human and otherwise, ending her book with the declarative statement, “You would have loved me, too.” Adeptly combining information and speculation, the book ends with a mention of the “real-life menagerie at the White House”; backmatter explains the factual elements that pepper Rebecca’s tale. Szalay’s art keeps the energy high, the humans on their toes, and Rebecca just as sweet as you’d want any young raccoon to be.

Federal banditry never looked so cute. A marvelous blend of fact, fiction, and fantastical imaginings.