Who Is Sonia Sotomayor?

Who Was . . . ? Series

by Megan Stine, Who H.Q., Dede Putra (Illustrator)

The truly inspiring story of the first Latina Supreme Court Justice.Outspoken, energetic, and fun, Sonia Sotomayor has managed to turn every struggle in life into a triumph. Born in the Bronx to immigrant parents from Puerto Rico, Sonia found out at age nine that she had diabetes, a serious illness now but an even more dangerous one fifty years ago. How did young Sonia handle the devastating news? She learned to give herself her daily insulin shots and became determined to make the most out of her life. It was the popular sixties TV show Perry Mason that made Sonia want to become a lawyer. Not only a lawyer, but a judge! Her remarkable career was capped in 2009 when President Barack Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court, only the third woman and first Hispanic justice in the court's history. Stories of Sotomayor's career are hardly dry legal stuff—she once hopped on a motorcycle to chase down counterfeiters and was the judge whose ruling ended the Major League baseball strike in 1995.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Middle Grade, Biography Memoir, American History

112 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 7, 2017

About the author

Megan Stine is the Editor-in-Chief of Real U Guides and the author of more than 100 books for young readers including Trauma-Rama, an etiquette book for teenagers published by Seventeen magazine, and several titles in a series based on the popular 1990’s television series Party of Five. A frequent writer of books in the enormously popular Mary-Kate and Ashley series, she is the best-selling author of Likes Me, Likes Me Not and Instant Boyfriend. She has worked with CBS and ABC in developing comedy and drama television pilots, and has written comedy material for a well-known radio personality in New York.

When she isn’t writing, she is a portrait and fine art photographer and a contributing photographer for the Real U series of guides.

Reviews

[Licha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really love these biographies, perhaps because they are simple yet fairly thorough, capturing key points in a person's life and accomplishments while also incorporating tidbits one may not know about the subject.

I have read an illustrated children's book on Sonia and fell in love with the person she is and her accomplishments in life. This book further reiterated why I admire her so.

Random facts for me:

--Sonia is the third woman and first Hispanic to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

--Sonia was diagnosed at a very early age with diabetes. Her mom was a nurse but was afraid to inject Sonia with insulin because she was afraid to hurt her. Sonia, being about 7 or 8 years old decided to take it upon herself to learn how to give herself the insulin shots. She learned to boil water to sterilize the needle and did this every day .

--Sonia loved reading Nancy Drew mysteries and watching Perry Mason shows because they would solve crimes and catch the bad guys. This started her fascination with law.

--Sonia was urged by a friend to apply to an Ivy League school. She applied to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton and got accepted at all three.

--One of her jobs at a law firm was to take fake Fendi bags off the streets. Sonia would go on raids with police officers. At one raid, they seized thousands of fake bags. The Fendis invited Sonia to Europe, showing her what the life of the rich and famous was like. She in turn invited the Fendis to her mom's house in the Bronx for a Thanksgiving dinner.

--Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave Sonia a lacy collar like the one she was known for so she could wear it with her judge robe on her first day of work.

[Wendi Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I would not have normally picked up on my own (I don't normally read middle grade non-fiction), but I'm happy I read it for my stepson's Battle of the Books. It's a breezy, interesting story about Sotomayor's life.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this as a gift. It’s cute and to the point but not my favorite style (even for a kids book).

I laughed when I read that Sonia liked to dance “the salsa.” Maybe have a Latina/o edit it? Idk.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This best-selling kids' series of Who What Where offers the kind of background information that students need. For adults, these books are a quick mini-lessons in history that save time sifting through information on the Web.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is Sonia Sotomayor?

I Picked Up This Book Because: I needed the knowledge.

Media Type: eBook
Source: HC Public Library
Dates Read: 8/19/24 - 8/26/24
Rating: 4 Stars

The Story:

I picked this up because I saw it in the book vending machine at work and thought to myself “I know nothing about her”. So, I got a copy from the library and now I know some things. I like the way this was written. The information was in pieces that a young reader can understand.

[Heather Laskos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with my 11 year old and we enjoyed hearing about Sonia Sotomayor's life including her childhood in the Bronx and how she pursed education and excelled in her jobs.

[Marnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading these books alongside my 10-year-old, as she learns about important people in our world and how they became the people they are/were.

This one was of particular interest since my 10-year-old also has Type One diabetes, and got diagnosed around the same age as Sonia. Thankfully, medicine has come a long way since then. There were a few passages about how Sonia really wanted to make the most of her life because she knew it might be cut short, and those were hard for me to know my child was reading, but it is also inspiring how Sonia has not let her disease slow her down.

Sonia was a product of Affirmative Action and is very thankful and forthcoming about getting such an opportunity. She learned early on to ask for help if/when she needed it- a great lesson for kids and adults alike. She loved Nancy Drew books (like my child) and dreamed of being a lawyer. She's always been true to her Puerto Rican roots and is a great role model for kids today.

[S.E. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book. I had a serious disagreement with one line on page 2. "The Supreme Court is the most important court in the country - it decides whether laws in the United States are fair or not." In my history class, we were taught that the Supreme Court determines whether laws in the United States were constitutional or not.

[Maria Cubilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
Sonia Sotomayor's life accomplishments are highlighted all throughout the book. It begins with her childhood and what she endured growing up to her getting accepted into Princeton. After Princeton, she takes on more law school in order to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a Judge. There are a lot of obstacles throughout her journey, but she overcomes them and accomplishes all of her dreams.

Questions:
1. What does the supreme court do?
2. Sonia reminisces about a trip during her childhood. What is something you will never forget and why?
3. Celina decides to trust Sonia with an important task, what is something you have been trusted with that made you feel like an adult? Why did you feel grown up?
4. Sonia recalls some of her friends. What qualities do you look for in a friend? Do you think you would be friends with yourself? Why or why not?
5. Have you started thinking about college? What are some steps you need to take to get there? Make a timeline of your goals of what this would look like.

Strine, M, (2017). Who Is Sonia Sotomayor? Paw Prints.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the opening story of her waiting for the call from the President of the United States and his advice that she always stay the same person she was...and stay connected to the world she came from.

I didn't realize she was diagnosed with diabetes at eight and injected her own insulin from that point on. This disease made her view her life as one that would be short and that she had to be sure to live to the fullest. Super sad she also lost her dad when she was 9 years old. I love how dedicated her mother was providing Sonia and her brother with a good education, and how Sonia than used that education (even while she was still getting it at Princeton) to help minorities. I love how she stood up for Affirmative Action while attending Yale Law school, and raced around with cops to catch criminals.

[Hailey Vittrup · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a 3-star book right up until the end. I don’t understand why authors in this series feel the need to include biased political statements particularly in the end of the book. This happened in the last few lines prior to the timelines, and it happened so fast, I probably wouldn’t have realized what was going on had the words been less controversial. Call me conservative (it’s true), but I don’t think the demographic this book was written for needs to be educated on abortion and a specific type of rights. I’m grateful that this was on a classroom read in my classroom last year. As an adult, I am thankful to have been educated on who Sonia Sotomayor is (I hadn’t heard of her before that I can remember). There were surely some good moments of the book like when it talked about how she loved Nancy Drew books as a kid. However, the political agenda sadly overshadowed her biography.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Who Is…? biography series are perfect for elementary or intermediate age students interested in learning about the featured person for an assignment or just for an exciting read. The afterward portion in this edition has a timeline on one side showing key events in Sonia Sotomayor's life and the opposite page shows worldwide key events during the same time period. Making for an interesting comparison and will help readers get a better feel for what else was happening at those times; a cool extra feature I haven't seen in many books.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a biography for young readers of the Supreme Court Justice. It tells the story of how a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx made it to the Supreme Court. It is easy to read with nice pen and ink illustrations drawn in a realistic way. It is carefully researched and gets its facts straight. What makes this book special is that it also gives background information on topics discussed in the story. For example, it tells us about Puerto Rico, being a Latina and what the Supreme Court is. Even adult readers will find this interesting.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is included on PEN America's Index of Banned & Challenged Books and was generously donated by a friend for placement in my Little Free Library.

This wasn't my favorite of the books I've read from this series so far, but that was mostly because I'm not as interested in Sonia Sotomayor as I am in, say, Michelle Obama or Sojourner Truth. It was still a well-written, informative book and it's presented in a format that's really well suited to its target audience. I look forward to passing this on for young readers to enjoy.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent children's chapter book on Sonia Sotomayor

Excellent children's chapter book on the life of Sonia Sotomayor. This book goes into a brief history of Sonia's history including her early schooling, diabetes, getting into Princeton and Yale (law school), her extra curricular activities during school, and then her extraordinary career leading up to the supreme court. Excellent book for an older child. Very inspiring.

[Giselle]

I remember when Sonia Sotomayor was nominated/sworn in as a Supreme Court judge, as a young latina teen I was so proud and excited to see a Latina woman in that position. She has always been an inspiration for me. Obviously this is a children’s book so it is more of an overview on Sonia Sotomayor’s life, that being said I really enjoyed reading this and will definitely be reading her autobiography.

[Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sonia Sotomayor was a judge at the US Supreme Court. Sonia Sotomayor worked and studied hard to be a judge. She didn’t stop because she fractured her ankle, she kept going. And she didn’t give up on her dream.She got the idea of being a judge by reading Nancy drew books and watching Perry Mason as a judge.[she loves mystery.]

[Kate]

Who Is Sonia Sotomayor? is a great book that is full of good information. It was a good book to read and learn about her. I did not know much about her before reading it. I like how it is a chapter book but also has some pictures in it. I think it helps students understand what they are reading better.

[Ashton Pettit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the author did a wonderful job going into detail of her life and each struggle she faced, but also gave plenty of background knowledge such as hispanic and latinos, where Puerto Rico is at and what it is and more. I would use this book in an upper elementary classroom and would use other "Who is..." books allowing children to choose who they would want to read more about.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning about Sonia Sotomayor. I found her wildly impressive. She was the third woman to be chosen for the Supreme Court and the first Hispanic. She worked hard her whole life and made it far by taking chances and believing in herself.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative

I'm an adult but learned a lot. I like how they define the terms they used such as Latina and Hispanic and the different types of courts and the branches of government in an easy to understand way. I'd recommend this highly

[Diane Goodpasture · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy informative read

I highly recommend this Spanish series to those of the high beginner to intermediate level. This series is very informative, simple, and fun to read. I get the impression that the authors try to be unbiased.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick & simple read. It covers the basics w/ pictures & even explains potential background knowledge young readers may lack. Great introduction for kids.

[Lionheart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated 5 stars
Ages 12+

[Tam Newell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story about perseverance and taking chances.

[Victoria B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as well written as some of the other books in the series.

[Sharon Bodnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes this is a kids’ book, but it’s all I needed to know about Sotomayor for now. Interested is reading her autobiography.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a hardworking person!

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine.

[Doris Gourbere · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an inspiration!