For MaddyMS
Dedicated to my parentsDP
PENGUIN WORKSHOP
An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Text copyright 2017 by Megan Stine.
Illustrations copyright 2017 by Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Published by Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. PENGUIN and PENGUIN WORKSHOP are trademarks of Penguin Books Ltd. WHO HQ & Design is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
Visit us online at www.penguinrandomhouse.com.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016478647
ISBN 9780399541926 (paperback)
ISBN 9780399541933 (ebook)
Version_2
Contents
Who Is Sonia Sotomayor?
New York City: May 25, 2009
It was a warm spring daythe kind of day to be outside. But Sonia Sotomayor was in her office, sitting beside her phone. She was waiting for the most important call of her life. A call from the White House! She would learn whether President Barack Obama wanted her to be a judge on the Supreme Court.
Sonia was already a judge. Her courtroom was in downtown New York City. But being one of the nine judges on the Supreme Court would be very different.
The Supreme Court is the most important court in the countryit decides whether laws in the United States are fair or not. Its decisions are final.
All day the phone in her office rang again and again. Each time Sonia picked it up, it was her family calling. They wanted to know what was happening. If she got the job, she would be only the third woman to sit on the Supreme Courtand the very first Hispanic person. Her family would be invited to go to the White House with her the next day. Some family members were coming from Puerto Rico!
Finally, at seven oclock that evening, Sonia couldnt stand waiting any longer. She picked up the phone and called the White House herself. She spoke to an aide to the president. What should she do? If she was picked, she had to get to Washington by the next morning.
The aide told Sonia to go home and packand wait for a call.
Then, a little after 8:00 p.m., the call came, the one she so hoped for. It was the president. He told her he would name her to be the next associate justice on the Supreme Court!
Sonia choked up and started to cry. Thank you, Mr. President, she said.
Then he asked her to promise two things. He wanted her to stay the same person that she wasand to always stay connected to the world she had come from.
For Sonia Sotomayora girl who had grown up poor and proud of her Puerto Rican heritagethat was a promise she was very happy to make.
Latino and Hispanic
What is the difference between the terms Latino and Hispanic ? A boy or man whose family comes from Latin America is called Latino . A girl or woman whose family comes from Latin America is Latina . Hispanic refers to someone whose family comes from a Spanish-speaking place, like Spain, Mexico, or Puerto Rico. So a person like Sonia Sotomayor, whose family comes from Puerto Rico, could be called Hispanic and Latina.
CHAPTER 1
Born in the Bronx
The five boroughs of New York City
Sonia Maria Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954. Her parents, Juan and Celina, brought her home. They lived in a poor area of the Bronx, which is part of New York City. Like many of their neighbors, Juan and Celina had come to the United States from Puerto Rico. They had each left Puerto Rico in 1944, hoping for a better life. In the Bronx, they met and married. They moved into the building where Juans mother lived.
The Sotomayors worked hard to make a life in their new country. Celina worked at a hospital while she studied to become a nurse. Juan worked in a factory. Celina learned some English, but the family spoke only Spanish at home.
When Sonia was three years old, her brother, Juan, was born. The family called him Junior. With the family growing, her parents decided to move to a bigger, nicer apartment in the Bronx.
Sonia liked her new home but missed living near her grandmother Mercedes. Years later, Sonia wrote a book about her life. She called it My Beloved World , and it was published in 2013. In the book, she wrote about her grandmotherhow full of life she was. She gave parties for the family almost every Saturday night. Everyone danced, played dominoes, and sang. Mercedes read poetry about Puerto Rico and cooked large meals. The apartment would fill with the smell of Puerto Rican food like chicken cooked with onions and garlic. Even as a child, Sonia liked pigs feet and pigs ears!
When Sonia was very young, Mercedes began taking her to Puerto Rico for vacations. Sonia loved those trips. She never forgot the clear blue water of the ocean and the white sandy beaches of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is an island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is about one thousand miles from Florida. The name Puerto Rico means rich port in Spanish. The island was owned by Spain for 405 years. That is why Spanish is the main language. But ever since 1898, Puerto Rico has been part of the United States.
Although Puerto Rico is not a state, everyone born in Puerto Rico is an American citizen. But Puerto Ricans do not have all the rights of US citizens. They cant vote for Congress members or for presidents.
Some Puerto Ricans wish their country could become the fifty-first state. Others want Puerto Rico to be an independent nationnot part of the United States. Sonia Sotomayor has thought a lot about this question over the years, but it is tricky to decide.
