Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Court Justice
Illustrator: Thomas Gonzalez
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Marshall Cavendish, 2010 ISBN: 978-0761457954
Sonia was raised in Bronxdale, a housing project in the South Bronx. From the very beginning, Sonia was a handful. Unlike her little brother, Sonia is not “tranquil,” instead, she is a fire cracker who loves to go to baseball games and who decides that she wants to be like Nancy Drew. Sonia wants to become a detective, or perhaps a lawyer like Perry Mason when she grows up.
Sonia works hard on the weekends and during the summer vacation in her Tia Carmen’s store, but after school she studies, and her work pays off. Sonia gets into Princeton University, and she soon discovers that university life is very different from the one she used to know. Her first history essay “is returned to her bloody” with red correction marks. How is it that she can “barely write a college paper?” With determination, Sonia gets to work until she “finally conquers writing.” Little does she know that many battles lie ahead of her.
Written in a series of blank verse poems, this picture book biography will give young readers an up close and personal picture of Sonia Sotomayor’s life. They will see how hardworking and determined she is, and how dedicated she is to justice and truth.
At the back of the book, readers will find further information about Sonia Sotomayor, a glossary of Spanish words, a chronology, and notes about the text.
