cover image Justice Ketanji: The Story of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Justice Ketanji: The Story of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Denise Lewis Patrick, illus. by Kim Holt. Orchard, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-338-88529-3

A father’s words—“You can do anything. You can be anything”—frame this stirring picture book biography of Ketanji Brown Jackson (b. 1970), the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Initially focusing on Jackson as the four-year-old daughter of a law student father, Patrick describes how words soon became part of her own life: “She loved reading them. She loved writing them. Most of all, she loved speaking them.” In jewel-tone illustrations with wash-like backgrounds, Holt depicts Jackson’s successes on her high school debate team, at Harvard University, and throughout her career—including responding with “calmness and grace” during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Referencing the women “who made her feel strong,” this accessible telling roots itself in resonant affirmations. A bibliography concludes. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)