Supreme Court justice coaches young readers on how to be successful while being themselves

By David Steinberg / For The Journal

Sunday, September 1st, 2019 at 12:02am

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sonia Sotomayor, the nation’s first Latina U.S. Supreme Court justice, will be at the KiMo Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 8.

But Sotomayor won’t be talking about the law or legal issues or litigation. The focus of the sold-out free public event is the literary side of her life. She’s the author of inspiring books for adults and young readers.
Her newly published children’s picture book is “Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You.” The book’s Spanish-language edition is titled “¡Solo pregunta!: sé diferente, sé valiente, sé tú!”
Sotomayor tells young readers in the new book that she knows how tough it can be to feel different about themselves. She was diagnosed with diabetes as a child.
Sotomayor writes metaphorically that just like the flowers in a garden, people, too, are different, and that those differences make the world a more vibrant place. In fact, the children in the book come together to build a community garden and they learn to “just ask” when they have questions of others.
In part of the KiMo event, Sotomayor will be in conversation with famed Hispanic author-poet Pat Mora of Santa Fe. The justice will also answer questions that will have been submitted in advance by audience members.
Mora said in a phone interview that Sotomayor herself “faced many challenges during her life to get to her (current) position. … I felt she consistently believed that one keeps learning. From the time she was young, she took pleasure in learning.”
Sotomayor’s previous picture book is “Turning Pages – My Life Story” (“Pasando páginas – La historia de mi vida”). In it, she writes that books were “her friends, her teachers” and inspired her to reach her dream of being a judge.
Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and graduated from Yale Law School.
Mora said sharing the KiMo stage with the associate justice “is a wonderful opportunity for me. I have such respect for her and all the work she’s been doing all through her life.”
Sotomayor has also written a memoir for adults titled “My Beloved World” and an adaptation of it for middle-school readers.
Mora said, she was intrigued by Sotomayor’s resilience. “She is not easily discouraged. She decided her goals and the way to reach those goals. As evidence is when she went to school and the success she has had,” Mora said.
“And I had a sense she is very committed to community. That began with her own Puerto Rican community, and the larger community, and what we can do to help one another.”
Valerie Mártinez, director of history and literary arts at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, said in an email on Sotomayor’s children’s books: “(They) celebrate her Latina roots, tell her personal story – from South Bronx to the Supreme Court – and embrace a way of being in the world that promotes perseverance, curiosity and tolerance.”
The subtitle of “Just Ask!” she said, “says everything about the way Sotomayor wants to inspire young readers, especially Hispanic/Latinx. Embrace who you are and where you come from; honor the same in others – and lead by being unique and bold. This message, coming from our first Latina Supreme Court justice who is also a children’s book author, is particularly powerful.”