Check out these books by and about strong political women!
Burn the Page: A True Story of Torching Doubts, Blazing Trails, and Igniting Change by Danica Roem (2022). Also available on e-book in the Indiana Digital Library. The first openly trans person elected to a U.S. state legislature discusses her lonely and closeted childhood and how she re-wrote her own future by deciding to run for office.
First: Sandra Day O’Connor, an American Life by Evan Thomas (2019). Also available on downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. She was born in 1930 in El Paso and grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona. At a time when women were expected to be homemakers, she set her sights on Stanford University. When she graduated near the top of her class at law school in 1952, no firm would even interview her. But Sandra Day O’Connor’s story is that of a woman who repeatedly shattered glass ceilings–doing so with a blend of grace, wisdom, humor, understatement, and cowgirl toughness.
Grace & Steel: Dorothy, Barbara, Laura and the Women of the Bush Dynasty by Randy Taraborrelli (2021). Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. Bestselling author J. Randy Taraborrelli reveals the unsung heroines of the inimitable Bush family dynasty: not only First Ladies Barbara and Laura, but other colorful women whose stories have been left out of history for far too long, including Barbara’s mother-in-law, the formidable Dorothy Bush; the enigmatic Columba and the controversial Sharon; and Laura’s twins, Jenna and Barbara.
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor (2013). Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. The first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court tells the story of her life before becoming a judge in an inspiring, surprisingly personal memoir. With startling candor and intimacy, Sonia Sotomayor recounts her life from a Bronxhousing project to the federal bench, a progress that is testament to her extraordinary determination and the power of believing in oneself.
Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland by Kristi Noem (2022). Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. “We don’t complain about things, Kristi. We fix them.” Taking her father’s words to heart, South Dakota’s first woman governor Kristi Noem shares heartfelt – and heartbreaking – lessons on making things right in the world, from her childhood on a farm in the vastness of rural America, to the marbled halls of Congress, to the national spotlight amid a global pandemic.
Settle for More by Megyn Kelly (2016). Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. Television journalist Megyn Kelly reflects on the enduring values and experiences that have shaped her — from growing up in a family that rejected the “trophies for everyone” mentality, to her father’s sudden, tragic death while she was in high school. She goes behind the scenes of her career, sharing the stories and struggles that landed her in the anchor chair of cable’s #1 news show. Speaking candidly about her decision to “settle for more,” Megyn discusses how she abandoned a thriving legal career to follow her journalism dreams.
Speaking for Myself: Faith, Freedom, and the Fight of Our Lives Inside the Trump White House by Sarah Huckabee Sanders (2020). Also available on e-book and downloadable audio from the Indiana Digital Library. Sarah Huckabee Sanders describes what it was like on the front lines and inside the White House, discussing her faith, the challenges of being a working mother at the highest level of American politics, her relationship with the press, and her unique role in the historic fight raging between the Trump administration and its critics for the future of our country.
This is What America Looks Like by Ilhan Omar (2020). Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. An intimate and rousing memoir by the first African refugee, the first Somali-American, and one of the first Muslim women, elected to Congress.
The Truths We Hold: An American Life by Kamala Harris (2019). Also available on e-book and downloadable audiobook in the Indiana Digital Library. The autobiographical memoir of the first woman, African American, and South Asian American to become attorney general of the State of California, and the second black woman ever elected to the United States Senate. Harris discusses the impact that her family and community had on her life, and how she came to discover her own sense of self and purpose.
