Get to Know Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor Through Her Books

From books by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to a legal memoir by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, those in search of a political read have endless places to start. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, is among the Washington figures who has shared her story in the form of an inspiring memoir.

Sotomayor's 2013 book, My Beloved World, opens with an unforgettable image. In 1962, when she was 7-years-old, Sotomayor discovered she had Type 1 diabetes—which her family saw as a "deadly curse." At that young age, Sotomayor learned to administer the insulin shots she needed to survive. “People who live in difficult circumstances need to know that happy endings are possible," Sotomayor writes in the book.

Through this sequence, Sotomayor grounds her remarkable legal career where it began: In the Bronx apartment where she lived with her Puerto Rican family. With her picture books for children, Sotomayor blends similar insights on her identity, upbringing, and wisdom gleaned from her political career—meaning that there are Sotomayor books for all audiences.

And now's the time to dive into her oeuvre. On Inauguration Day, Sotomayor, who is the the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, will swear in Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and first Asian American to hold the office of vice president. Celebrate the occasion by reading one of Sotomayor's books yourself or sharing them with a young bibliophile.