Close to My Heart: An Autobiography

Sterling, an activist and author of more than 30 nonfiction works, many of them African-American biographies, turns her gaze inward in this humble and steady autobiography. Sterling traces her life, from her German immigrant beginnings in the Bronx, through her long career writing books for Time/Life, the many political stances she's taken (communist, anti-racist, feminist), to her current life, which finds her at age 90, widowed and living alone. Sterling is sober and smart about her life's defining moments. She describes significant historical experiences with personal perspective and unfailing authenticity, including her involvement in the Federal Writers' Project during the New Deal, the underground 1950s Communist movement, the Civil Rights movement and other events. But she also creates a valuable portrait of her domestic life, describing her struggle to be a journalist, activist, wife and mother all at once. It's at these moments that Sterling's writing is most powerful and her quality of character most evident. Sterling's story is one of profound persistence, a testament to the one-foot-in-front-of-the-other approach to making the world a better place. Speaking of her book Tender Warriors, which documented the desegregation of schools from children's points of view, she writes: ""I still wanted to grab people and say, 'This is what is going on. These are the heroes we should be celebrating.' "" Her message applies to this memoir, too.