Mrs. Pearle G. Mintz

Her humanity. Ms. Sotomayer opened herself up with an unflinching candor with the dialog of her life and all it contains for the reader to share her journey, which is truly remarkable. The book navigates the reader through her early childhood, her family, friends, co-workers, and loves unashamedly revealing a story of courage, tenacity and compassion.My eyes were full of tears of joy when, only too soon, her book was done. I wished she were standing in front of me so that I could have hugged her and told her how much I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of listening to her memoir.From her own introduction to Rita Moreno's narration, the "sound" of her story was perfectly in sync with her experiences, taking the reader through an emotional and intellectual experience that hasn't happened to me in a long time.I am a reader of non-fiction primarily and historical figures specifically. My membership permits me to read 2 books a month and I do this with regularity. Some book are informative, some entertaining and some boring, not because the lives of the people were boring, but because there was an imbalance between the message and the delivery.This book has it all. It is rich in personal history and anecdotes, as well as surprises. Ms. Sotomayer is not only a successful attorney and judge. She is, or could have been, a successful psychologist, mentor, teacher, daughter, and family member. Her story and the way in which she has written it demonstrates a humble and grateful brilliant human being. The book is a wonderfully inspirational story for any woman and I am happily buying copies to send to my daughters and granddaughters. Thank you, Ms. Sotomayer for sharing.

The combination of early life recollections of family and experiences with her life as she moves up the educational ladder eventually to reach her position on the Supreme Court of the United States. She has amazing recollections of incidents and her dialog is never wordy or boring.

I think she loved the story herself because she tells it with the inflections and emotions it deserves. With a different narrator it could have lost a great deal of the excitement it had. Rita Moreno does a superb job of narration. The message of this book is inspiring and is meant as thus. That is why the narration cannot falter or the story can be diminished.

I listened to it over a period of 2 days. I rarely read a book so quickly but it grabbed my attention right from the beginning and didn't let me go until the end.

I can say that even though the book was written by an intellectual it was NEVER over my head. The legal-speak was explained and easily understood. And I was always brought back to the main event, the wonderful story of Ms. Sotomayer's life.