Breaking in

Journalist Joan Biskupic, known for her work on the judiciary, tells the story of Sonia Sotomayor, who became the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court. Her 2009 nomination by President Obama came at a moment when his 2008 election had seemed unlikely, and Biskupic argues that broader shifts in American politics and culture helped carry Sotomayor there. Born to a Puerto Rican nurse and a factory worker, she grew up in a Bronx housing project and rose through Princeton and Yale Law School. Sotomayor described herself as an "affirmative action baby," a label that drew admiration from some and resentment from others.

Biskupic follows how Sotomayor repeatedly came close to being shut out on her way to the federal bench. Drawing on extensive research, reporting, and close access to Sotomayor along with interviews with fellow justices, the author examines how Sotomayor built the relationships she needed in a confirmation process that has often been hard on nominees, particularly when race or ethnicity became an issue.

The book also considers Sotomayor's effect on the Court itself, an institution whose members have often seemed careful and conventional in manner even when their legal views sharply diverge. Written as a follow-up to Sotomayor's bestselling memoir, it looks at the difference she is making on the bench.