Breaking In

August 11, 2014
Biskupic (American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia), who has covered the Supreme Court as a lawyer and journalist since 1989, turns her attention to the 111th Justice of the Supreme Court, the court’s first Hispanic and third woman. The book briefly traces Sotomayor’s Bronx childhood, Princeton undergraduate and Yale legal education, and first professional experiences. It then recounts in detail a “story of fortuitous timing and alignment with national events”: Sotomayor’s rise from associate judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, as a George H.W. Bush appointment; to her appointment by President Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit; and finally to her appointment to the Supreme Court by Obama. Not a formal biography, Biskupic’s book is a fascinating account of the political machinations involved in achieving a Supreme Court judgeship and of Sotomayor’s juridical decisions and actions since her appointment. Biskupic draws extensively from Sotomayor’s memoir, My Beloved World, and from official transcripts and media coverage. Her skill as a journalist enlivens these sources with vivid anecdotal detail, which makes for a guide through a convoluted process that will be informative for adults as well as any young readers who might hope to be a Supreme Court justice one day. Agent: Gail Ross, Ross Yoon Literary Agency.

October 15, 2014
Born in 1954, the year of the Brown decision, Sotomayor found that her own drive aligned with cultural and political changes that would eventually help her achieve a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The daughter of a Puerto Rican nurse and a factory worker, Sotomayor rose from the projects of New York to Princeton and Yale Law School and a legal career that managed to avoid the land mines that usually obstruct Supreme Court nominees. Biskupic, who has covered the Supreme Court for more than 20 years, focuses on the social and political forces that favored Sotomayor's nomination but that might also have tanked it. Sotomayor's strong personality, inspiring background, and ethnic identity combine with a personal charm that has earned her popularity across the nation, but Biskupic ponders how persuasive she will be on a court that resists the change she represents as the justices ponder such sticky issues as affirmative action. Drawing on interviews with Sotomayor and her colleagues, Biskupic offers a compelling look at a justice who continues to face challenges to her right to sit on the bench.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2014

The author of American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a 20-year veteran of the Supreme Court beat, Biskupic offers a biography of Sonia Sotomayor that shows how the first Latina justice made the very best of social and political change--she's a self-described affirmative action baby--to become one of our most dynamic justices.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2014

Biskupic (Reuters News; American Original) examines how Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court was the result of a timely cocktail of a receptive political landscape and the jurist's own will, persistence, and smarts. The author looks at Sotomayor's coming of age as Latinos gained political power and documents the ways in which her ability to exploit her networking skills helped while she rose through the ranks. A fascinating chapter on President Obama's choice of Sotomayor recounts his options and the elements of his deliberations. There, Biskupic takes the opportunity to balance her generally admiring view of her subject by including pointed criticisms from some of the legal experts who communicated with the president at the time. She also includes insider stories of the justice's ability to unsettle the staid atmosphere of the high court by dancing at an end of term celebration and by selecting unconventional furnishings for her chambers. There is also substantive examination of Sotomayor's legal points of view with analysis of key cases from her career. Particular attention is paid to her steadfast defense of affirmative action. VERDICT Biskupic tells this American-dream story against the backdrop of the calculated politics of Supreme Court nominations. Accessibly written and extensively documented, it will appeal to court watchers and anyone looking for evidence that hard work, savvy, and timing still matter. [See Prepub Alert, 4/14/14.]--Joan Pedzich, formerly with Harris Beach PLLC, Pittsford, NY

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.