Cognotes 2019 Annual Conference Highlights - 4

COGNOTES

HIGHLIGHTS

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Sonia Sotomayor Embraces Librarians - Literally
Justice and Author Talks
Law, Libraries, and Lord of
the Flies
By Amy Carlton, American Libraries

"I am in a room with people whom I love,"
said Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the
U.S. Supreme Court, at the American Library
Association Annual Conference & Exhibition
June 22. "Among my most favorite people in
the world are librarians. You open the world
to kids. I love you, so thank you for inviting
me here today."
Her talk was moderated by her longtime
editor Jill Santopolo, associate publisher of
Philomel Books. Sotomayor noted that as a
child she could never sit still and was soon
walking the aisles of the auditorium - followed closely by her security detail - telling
her story, hugging attendees, and being serenaded with birthday wishes.
Sotomayor said she started writing books
to stay grounded after she was appointed to
the Supreme Court. She went from having
an important but relatively anonymous job in
New York to a very public role in Washington
that occasionally involved having dinner with
the president or throwing out the first pitch at

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor speaks to ALA attendees.

Yankee Stadium. She began to think seriously
and deeply about her life, who she was, and
how she got there, which eventually became
her autobiography My Beloved World.
Her cousin, a bilingual education teacher,
pressed her to write a version of the book for
middle-grade readers in English and Span-

ish (The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor/El
mundo adorado de Sonia Sotomayor), which
inspired her to write another book for younger
children (Turning Pages/Pasando páginas).
Her new book, Just Ask!/¡Solo pregunta!, is
one she said wanted to write since a fellow
patron in a restaurant many years ago accused

her of being a drug addict after seeing her
injecting insulin in the restroom. It is a book
of stories and messages on behalf of children
who live with challenges. She said she hopes
readers will learn not to assume the worst in
people when you see them doing something
you don't understand.
When Sotomayor was a child, the
Parkchester branch of New York Public Library was her refuge after her father's death. "If
I went to the library," she said, "I could escape
the sadness in my house" for a few hours. The
books there also set her on her current path
to studying the law.
Lord of the Flies especially made an
impact. She could relate to the children on
deserted island whose first instinct is to follow rules adults taught them, which ends in
tragedy. "It struck me with an understanding
that I have carried with me ever since," Sotomayor noted. "We need laws. We need them
to live together, to survive as a community."
Morality is not natural; community is a
learned response.
Sotomayor said she never considered another career path. "I have loved everything I
have done in the law. I am a living example of
someone who has lived her life further than
she ever dreamed."

Takei Asks Librarians to Keep History and Hope Alive
By Sara Zettervall, Hennepin County Library

George Takei may be most famous
for playing Hikaru Sulu on the original
"Star Trek" television series, but he's
also a survivor of the Japanese American internment camps of World War
II. In his recent musical, Allegiance,
he brought a story in that setting to
Broadway. Now, he has captured a
more personal version in the form of
a graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy,
which draws on his own memories
and the stories his father and mother
shared with him.
Takei was only five years old, with
a younger brother and infant sister,
when soldiers came to escort his
family out of their house. "I can still
remember the terror of that horrible
George Takei on Japanese American internment
morning," he said, as he clearly recalled
the bayonets on the soldiers' guns and the where many Japanese American families lost conditions on blistering deserts or freezing
sound of their fists pounding at the front their life savings. Finally, when President plains. But children are adaptable, Takei
door. This happened, he noted, as a result Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive said, and since he was so young, "What
of irrational fear, "simply because we hap- Order 9066 in 1942, Takei's family faced the could have been a grotesque experience
pened to look like the people who bombed soldiers at their door and were led away at became my normality." The book uses those
Pearl Harbor." Young Japanese American gunpoint, just a few faces in the mass of over qualities of innocence and fun to draw
men who were born, raised, and educated 120,000 Americans who would be interred the reader into what eventually becomes a
as Americans tried to volunteer for the U.S. for the rest of the war.
much more complicated and serious story.
Armed Forces but were declined and called
Takei's family ended up at a camp in When Takei became a teenager, he started
"enemy aids." Insults and harassment led Arkansas, which was hastily constructed to wonder about his experiences, and began
to curfews and then frozen bank accounts, on swampland. Other camps were in harsh reading all he could at the local library and
found no mention of the camps. Instead,
"This is an American story," Takei said, one
he said, "I learned the noble ideals of our
democracy, and I couldn't reconcile them
that many young people today don't know. This
with my experience."
includes both young Japanese Americans, whose
His parents play an important role in
parents and grandparents may have been too
the
book and in the meaning he eventually
traumatized to talk about it, and people from
made of what happened to them. When he
other backgrounds who can see contemporary
couldn't find answers in books, he learned
events reflected in the book.
about the reality of the camps from talking
to his father. Despite everything, Takei's
father still believed in democracy and
brought him to participate in campaigning

for Adlai Stephenson. From their talks
and involvement, Takei learned that
a people's democracy can sometimes
fail because human beings are fallible,
but the flip side is that well-meaning
people have the power to use the system to create hope.
That sense of hope, along with education for young Japanese Americans
who may not know this part of their
history, were Takei's motivations to
share his story in a format that's accessible to all ages. He acknowledged
he couldn't have completed a graphic
novel without the help of artists and
writers he brought up on stage: Harmony Becker was the primary illustrator, Steven Scott made the project
happen through his connections to the
Archie comic book series, and Justin
Eisinger helped edit the text down
to the few essential elements that appear
among the images. Takei lavishly praised
all of them but saved a special compliment
for Becker, who is herself half Japanese. He
confessed he's a manga fan and appreciated
that she brought some elements of manga
into the visuals while also conveying all the
very real feelings involved in the story. "My
parents really came alive," he said. In turn,
she admitted she based the childhood version of Takei on her little brother. She was
honored to be part of a project that could
help educate members of her generation.
The entire artistic team was excited to
engage the help of librarians in sharing
this important piece of history. "This is
an American story," Takei said, one that
many young people today don't know. This
includes both young Japanese Americans,
whose parents and grandparents may have
been too traumatized to talk about it, and
people from other backgrounds who can see
contemporary events reflected in the book.

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