DISSENTER ON THE BENCH

A biography of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that illustrates her lifelong commitment to promoting civil rights.

The author has expertly selected cases for this readable volume that will pique the interest of teens. The gripping first chapter introduces Savana Lee Redding, the eighth-grade honor roll student who sued after being strip-searched at school and eventually won in the Supreme Court, due partly to Ginsburg’s explaining to her uncomprehending male fellow justices the humiliation the girl felt. Subsequent chapters intersperse black-and-white photos and details of Ginsburg’s life with fascinating cases focusing on free speech, marriage equality, gender-based pay and benefit discrimination, and other hot-button issues. Readers learn about her early years as a Jewish girl in Brooklyn, hard work and academic stardom, college years at Cornell (where she met her husband-to-be), egalitarian marriage, and distinguished legal career spent in dogged pursuit of equality. Many examples of how Ginsburg herself experienced or witnessed discrimination are included. The last chapter explores the justice’s recent role as a popular media and cultural icon. The author carefully shapes the most salient facts into a narrative that brings both protagonists and issues to life, deftly situating each case in its historical context; the result is far more than just a biography or history. It’s a complex interweaving of both.

Meticulous research and outstanding storytelling make Supreme Court arcana and the fight for equality come to life.