A Roosevelt Smile Cast of Characters

As an adult, I still remember my displeasure at seeing the character sketches in the American Girl books. That wasn't how I pictured them! Even now, when books are transformed into movies and characters are cast with actors, the right image can make or break a film! 

Still, there's a draw to put a face to a name. Maybe this is best done before reading when we haven't formed an image in our mind that's impossible to replicate! Yet, for a little launch-week fun, I fed the character descriptions from A Roosevelt Smile to Fotor's AI image generator and was thoroughly amused with the results! 

AI Character Images

The results were pretty solid! In case the captions aren't working, we have Benjamin, Millie, Lyda, and Charles! You'll have to jump to the bottom to see out AI Frances!

Historic PHotographs

Photographs certainly take us to a place where AI cannot! So while we're talking characters, I wanted to bring some historic visuals. Below, we have Mademoiselle Thiele, one of the Roosevelt's nannies and a bit of the inspiration behind Millie (though Millie was also one of their servants), Springwood, Mrs. James, and of course, Franklin!

AI Generated Frances

Having AI generate an image of your main character, who is also your great-grandmother that you've never seen, was a daunting task. I can't tell you how many images I rejected in my quest (which is also why there's only an image of her backside on the cover). But while working on some images for the sequel, I came across one that resonated with me ever so slightly!

What do you think? Does this image look the way you pictured Frances? Let me know in the comments!