Sonia Sotomayor

April 1, 2017
Gr 4-7-Mendoza has written a pocket-size biography highlighting Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's resilience and tenacity. As a young girl, Sotomayor was inspired by Perry Mason and the -Nancy Drew- series. However, when her diabetes prevented her from pursuing a career in law enforcement, she set her sights on law. Mendoza lightly covers Sotomayor's early life challenges, such as growing up in a Bronx housing project and having diabetes. The slim biography is overall an adequate introduction to Sotomayor and the U.S. Supreme Court. The writing is occasionally a bit spotty. For instance, Mendoza describes a situation where Sotomayor's law school classmates said Sotomayor -argued like a guy.- The text states that -at first she was offended by the remark, but when they explained, she understood their perspective,- yet Mendoza doesn't provide the explanation or the perspective that Sotomayor is said to have comprehended. Furthermore, the cover is lackluster and unlikely to entice potential readers. VERDICT A useful but additional purchase for biography collections.-Laura Dooley-Taylor, Lake Zurich Middle School North, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2017
An analytical view of the personal and cultural values that make the Supreme Court's first Hispanic and third woman justice an admirable role model.Emphasizing Sotomayor's affinity to minority readers in particular, Mendoza highlights the influences of Nuyorican community spirit ("the wonderful optimism of being bicultural") and "Island Girl Values" along with the personal discipline required to live with childhood diabetes in forming her subject's character. Sotomayor's youth and career acquire a shine of legend as she goes from early ambitions to be the "Latina Perry Mason" (a phrase the author loves enough to use repeatedly) through law school and up the ladder of responsibility. Her attainment of the stratospheric bench where "she was meant to be all along," leading the "Rock Star Life" of a Supreme Court justice, is presented as destiny. Wowza. The prose, though rough-hewn ("The value of education was always engrained in her brain"), is at least less mannered than the free verse of Carmen T. Bernier-Grand's eponymous profile, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez (2010), and the biographical details end with a note on a 2015 award. Definitely on a mission, but some sense of the woman beneath the robes comes through. (notes, bibliography) (Biography. 12-14)

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