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My Beloved World summary

Name: My Beloved World
Rating: 4.2 (80 reviews)
Author: Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor

The memoir by the first Latina ever to serve on the US Supreme Court

4.2 (80 ratings)

14 mins

Brief summary

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor is a memoir that tells the story of the first Hispanic and third woman to sit on the US Supreme Court. She shares her journey from a Bronx housing project to Ivy League schools and beyond, filled with obstacles and triumphs.

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Memoirs Women's Stories

Table of Contents

My Beloved World
Summary of 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? Go down the road that helped shape the legal mind of Sonia Sotomayor.

What does it take to become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States? An impossible question to answer, perhaps, but when Sonia Sotomayor was put on the bench by Barack Obama in August 2009, it was the first time a person with a Hispanic background rose to the venerated position, and only the third time a woman had been chosen to inhabit the office.

Let’s take a journey through the life of Sotomayor and see the steps she took to ascend to the bench. Her upbringing, school years and early legal career helped shape a young Latina girl from the Bronx into a legal juggernaut.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

what an orange taught Sotomayor about self-reliance;
how a death in her family turned out to have positive consequences; and
what it was like to be a Latina at Princeton and Yale Law.

For a Justice of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor’s childhood was far from typical.

Sonia Sotomayor was born into a Puerto Rican community in the troubled housing projects in the Bronx, New York in 1954. There, she lived within walking distance from a huge extended family of cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, many of whom barely spoke English.

Sotomayor’s family certainly didn’t have it easy. Her father’s alcoholism pushed her mother away from home. To avoid being there at the same time as her husband, which always resulted in heated arguments, Sotomayor’s mother spent her nights and weekends working as a nurse in a hospital.

The young Sonia, recognizing that her father was facing a struggle that was out of his control, still cared for him. Their trips to the grocery store – when her father taught her how to choose the best meat and the juiciest fruits, and would even give her a penny to buy herself candy – were always the highlight of her week.

Unfortunately, when she was seven, Sotomayor was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. This presented yet another challenge to the young girl, as neither her alcoholic father nor her anxious mother had steady enough hands to give Sotomayor the insulin shots she needed daily.

So she taught herself how to administer the shots by practicing on an orange. This experience gave her a powerful feeling of self-reliance: she knew then that she could count on herself to survive. The traits of discipline, perseverance and independence that Sotomayor had acquired through her early childhood experiences were strengths that drove her academic success during her school years.

After her father’s death, Sotomayor’s mother supported her in a lifelong love of education.

When Sotomayor was just nine years old, her father passed away as a result of heart problems. After her mother had gone through an initial period of depression and grief, she found she had more energy than ever. She began to speak English at home to support Sotomayor and her younger brother in their school performance.

Inspired by changes at home, Sotomayor began to take a greater interest in her studies. She remembers asking her smartest classmate in the fifth grade how she studied. The girl, surprised, explained her simple technique of underlining key ideas when reading, taking notes in class and reviewing important topics before tests.

Despite her acceptance into an Ivy League school, Sotomayor was continually confronted with social prejudice.

After years of academic excellence in high school, it was time for Sotomayor to start thinking about her future. A friend told her about the Ivy League schools, which Sotomayor had never even heard of. But once she applied, she was accepted into several of them.

After deciding to attend Princeton, Sotomayor began to notice that the way other people treated her changed. Once, when she and her mother were in a department store picking out a gift, both women were met with dismissive, disrespectful behavior from the store staff. But when Sotomayor mentioned she was attending Princeton, the personnel turned their behavior around, treating Sotomayor and her mother with courtesy out of the blue.

Sotomayor’s time at Yale Law School was filled with both challenges and new opportunities.

After graduating from Princeton with flying colors, Sotomayor married her high school sweetheart and started thinking about the next chapter of her life. What awaited her? Well, Yale Law School, for a start. This was another fantastic opportunity for Sotomayor, though it also came with some challenges.

She left one job interview feeling humiliated after an employer implied that Sotomayor was at Yale not because she deserved to be there, but because of affirmative action. He went on to describe her as “culturally deprived,” insulting her with his assertion that students from minorities admitted through affirmative action were undeserving of their place at Yale.

Sotomayor’s unusual job choice after law school gave her incredible, eye-opening experiences.

While many of her peers chose to go on to fancy law firms and earn fat paychecks after graduation, Sotomayor chose instead to go into the public sector at the New York District Attorney’s office. Though an unusual move for a Yale Law graduate, it benefited Sotomayor enormously.

The DA’s office gave her more direct courtroom experience and responsibility than almost any other first-time law job could. As the state representative and prosecutor of criminal offenses, Sotomayor had to prepare meticulously for her cases. She did a good job doing so and achieved an impressive streak of convictions. The sense of purpose she felt each time she spoke before the jury rekindled her childhood dream of becoming a judge to give back to her community.

Sotomayor’s early experiences instilled in her the determination to keep on learning from others.

When looking back on her life, Sotomayor often thinks of her cousin Nelson. The two of them were inseparable when they were growing up. Nelson always seemed wiser and stronger to her, having had a more stable home life than Sotomayor. And yet, Nelson tragically died before his thirtieth birthday of a heroin overdose.

Sotomayor could never understand why their lives had taken such different paths. After struggling with the question for decades, she came to realize that her tough childhood had taught her resilience and perseverance through difficult times, which eventually helped her bring her life into a better place.

Sotomayor’s professional and personal friendships provided her with invaluable support.

After her post at the DA’s office, Sotomayor moved on to work for a small private firm in Manhattan called Pavia & Harcourt. It was there that she deepened her knowledge of business law and gained more valuable relationships.

One of these relationships was with coworker David Botwinik. It was he who encouraged her to apply for the position of federal district court judge at just 36. Though Sotomayor was worried this was far too ambitious, other coworkers supported her throughout the process. After a rigorous application process, Sotomayor was offered the position of judge.

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What is My Beloved World about?

My Beloved World (2013) is the memoir of Sonia Sotomayor, the third woman, and first Latina ever, to serve on the US Supreme Court. From her childhood hardships and her unlikely path to Princeton and Yale Law School to her first appointment as a judge, Sotomayor’s story is one of resilience, friendship and lifelong learning.

Best quote from My Beloved World

I saw my father receding from us, disappearing behind that twisted mask. It was like being trapped in a horror film.

—Sonia Sotomayor

Who should read My Beloved World?

Law students interested in one woman’s road to the supreme court
Law professionals who want to know more about one of the supreme court justices
Anyone who likes reading about real-life examples of the American dream

About the Author

Sonia Sotomayor is a US Supreme Court Justice. She is the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the Court. After growing up in New York City’s housing projects to non-English speaking Puerto Rican parents, she earned scholarships to Princeton and Yale Law School and eventually fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a judge.

Categories with My Beloved World

Biography & Memoir Society & Culture

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