I N T ROD Sonia Sotomayor's story takes her from a poor neighborhood in the Bronx to the United States Supreme
U CTION A little girl watches her mother go to work every day working long hard hours as a nurse Her father is dead and her family is poor and they live around other poor people The V little girl sees the adults in her neighborhood work tough jobs like her mother They do not wear suits and ties or nice dresses to work and they usually work at very tiring low paying jobs Some people in the neighborhood get angry and impatient with such a difficult life and get in trouble with the law This little girl will do just the opposite instead of getting in trouble with the law she will make the law her career She will become a lawyer then a judge and eventually a member of the highest court in the United States That little girl was named Sonia Sotomayor and today she is an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court To make the journey from that apartment in the Bronx to the Supreme Court Sonia had to overcome many difficulties By doing that she made her story an inspiration to many different types of
CHAPTER 1 BECOMING THE BEST n June 25 1954 a new baby was welcomed to the South Bronx Juan and Celina Sotomayor named their new baby girl Sonia a name that means wisdom Juan and Celina Sotomayor had come to New York City when Celina was serving in the Women's Auxiliary Corps a branch of the U S Army during World War II After Sonia they had one other child a boy who was named Juan after his father The family was not very well off and the Bronx was one of the poorer and rougher areas of New York Still the Sotomayor kids had The interest in law that led Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has its roots in her
BECOMING THE BEST North Riverdale Westchester Wakefield one advantage that was going to make a big difference in lverdale Eastchester Ed Spuyten Duyvil Kingsbridge WHEliamsbridge Marble Co op Cit Bedford Pariolinville Baychester Pelham Gardens hatta Pelham Parkway University Heights Morris Mount Hope City stand Mount Eden Pelham Bay Morris Park Country C Westchester Square Parkchester H S West Farms their lives a Claremont Village Concourne village I I Morris ania Schuylerville mother who Soundview Castle Ham Edgewater Park tral Harlem Longwood Throgs Neck Hunts Point Mott Haven understood that getting an education Port Morris East River Beechhurst Queens College Point Whitestone Astoria Heights was going to be the key to her children having a brighter future Sotomayor grew up in the Bronx which contains some of New York City's toughest neighborhoods GETTING AN EDUCATION Despite her mother s support Sonia faced some challenges in getting an education Her
