2013 Selection
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
The first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Now, with a candor and intimacy never undertaken by a sitting Justice, she recounts her life from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench, a journey that offers an inspiring testament to her own extraordinary determination and the power of believing in oneself.
Here is the story of a precarious childhood, with an alcoholic father (who would die when she was nine) and a devoted but overburdened mother, and of the refuge a little girl took from the turmoil at home with her passionately spirited paternal grandmother. But it was when she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes that the precocious Sonia recognized she must ultimately depend on herself. She would learn to give herself the insulin shots she needed to survive and soon imagined a path to a different life. With only television characters for her professional role models, and little understanding of what was involved, she determined to become a lawyer, a dream that would sustain her on an unlikely course, from valedictorian of her high school class to the highest honors at Princeton, Yale Law School, the New York County District Attorney’s office, private practice, and appointment to the Federal District Court before the age of forty. Along the way we see how she was shaped by her invaluable mentors, a failed marriage, and the modern version of extended family she has created from cherished friends and their children. Through her still-astonished eyes, America’s infinite possibilities are envisioned anew in this warm and honest book, destined to become a classic of self-invention and self-discovery. (Summarized from Amazon.com)
For more information about the reading, please visit the Smith College Libraries' page about the reading at: http://smith.edu/libraries/info/news/summerreading2013
Incoming students are expected to purchase and read the summer reading selection prior to arriving at Smith for Orientation. If purchasing the book is cost prohibitive please contact Anna Vargas, Program Coordinator, at avargas@smith.edu. There will be small group discussions held during Orientation.
Past Summer Reading Selections
2012: Dreaming in French: The Paris Years of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag, and Angela Davis by Alice Yaeger Kaplan
2011: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
2010: Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
2009: The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones
2008: Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey
2007: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
2006: Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder
2005: Kettle Bottom by Diane Gilliam Fisher
2004: The Gangster We Are All Looking For by Lê Thi Diem Thúy
2003: Atonement by Ian McEwan
2002: Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
2001: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
2000: My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
1999: Respect by Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot
