: How to Be a Better You
Sonia Sotomayor,
Jacqueline Alcántara Illustrator
September 9, 2025
Hardcover Picture Book
| 40 pages
Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Values & Virtues / Friendship / Emotions & Feelings
From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Just Ask! comes a sweet and powerful story about being true to yourself and shining your brightest. How will you help people shine?
There once was a little girl who grew up in Puerto Rico with an incredible ability—she was able to make everyone around her shine. She listened, she understood, she worked hard, and she brought out the beauty in each person she met.
In a story inspired by her mother’s ability to help people see their own brilliance, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor shows readers how helping others shine makes the whole world brighter.
With art by award-winning illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara, Just Shine will help readers find their own inner glow—and recognize that glow in those around them.
Story Locale: Puerto Rico, Miami, NYC
There once was a little girl who grew up in Puerto Rico with an incredible ability—she was able to make everyone around her shine. She listened, she understood, she worked hard, and she brought out the beauty in each person she met.
In a story inspired by her mother’s ability to help people see their own brilliance, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor shows readers how helping others shine makes the whole world brighter.
With art by award-winning illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara, Just Shine will help readers find their own inner glow—and recognize that glow in those around them.
Story Locale: Puerto Rico, Miami, NYC
