Alice Paul Tapper to publish picture book inspired by medical misdiagnosis

NEW YORK (AP) — The new book from bestselling author Alice Paul Tapper, daughter of CNN anchor Jake Tapper, was inspired by a near-fatal health emergency.

“Use Your Voice,” with illustrations by Fanny Liem, is a fictionalized take on Alice’s hospitalization in 2021 after she experienced intense stomach pain, chills and vomiting — what turned out to be appendicitis. Doctors misdiagnosed her condition as a viral infection and only gave her an ultrasound, which revealed she had a perforated appendix leaking poisonous bacteria, after Jake Tapper pleaded with the hospital’s administrator.

Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, will release “Use Your Voice” on Aug. 27, the author’s 17th birthday.

“I am so excited to share this book and empower kids visiting the hospital, a place that can be scary for everyone, not just children,” Alice Paul Tapper said in a statement Wednesday. “The characters in the book who are part of the pain chart are my way of showing my thought process from when I was sick, and I hope readers enjoy them while also understanding the need to listen to their own bodies.”

Tapper is also the author of “Raise Your Hand,” a 2019 bestseller about the need for girls to be heard in the classroom.