Erin Dealey

I am so very excited to celebrate the recent Book Birthday of…

No One Told Sandra Day O’Connor What to Do:

The First Woman to Serve on the United States Supreme Court

by Molly Golden, illustrated by Julia Breckenreid (Sleeping Bear Press).

Not only have Molly and I have been #kidlit friends for years, her wonderful nonfiction picture book biography of Sandra Day O’Connor is both timely and more important than ever.

 “From childhood on, Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-2023) bucked notions of how a young woman was expected to behave…An admiring glimpse at a pioneering legal figure.” ― Kirkus

About the author:

Molly Golden was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area where much of her childhood was spent building forts in her living room and getting muddy in the nearby creek. She has an undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University in English and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University.

Molly’s resume includes a decade+ of teaching 7th / 8th grade Language Arts in California. She now lives in Central Oregon with her husband, children, and five (and counting!) pets. Her debut picture book, Becoming Real: The True Story of the Velveteen Rabbit. illus. by Paolo Escobar (Clarion) released Jan. 2025.

Let’s ask some questions!

Connections, Inspiration, and Research

Q 1. We agree that Sandra Day O’Connor’s story is inspirational, but what inspired you to write about her?

Molly Golden: Our early years couldn’t have been more different, but I instantly felt a connection to Sandra Day O’Connor when I began my research. Sandra was born and raised in Arizona. Years later, she returned and opened her first law office and raised her family at the same time and just miles from where my mom grew up and attended high school in Arizona.

I’ve visited that part of the country often throughout my life. When reading and writing about Sandra, I could picture the Phoenix streets and dessert landscape and could feel the hot dry heat from that part of Sandra’s world.  Before Sandra began her legal profession, she attended Stanford University and stayed as only one of five women in the law school.

I didn’t attend Stanford’s Law School, but I did attend Stanford’s School of Education. Again, walking through the same halls, driving down the same streets, hiking the same paths she did over the hill in Halfmoon Bay allowed me to picture and feel her life.

Original Sources and Surprises

Q 2. What was one of the most surprising discoveries you made in creating this book?

Molly Golden: I had the incredible opportunity to speak with a family member and close friend of the O’Connors as part of my research. Sandra (known to be a matchmaker) set him up with his future wife—her close cousin’s daughter. I knew Sandra was bright, but I was most surprised how humble and down to earth she was.

Her friend shared memories of Sandra as the friend, the wife, the mother she was. I teared up on our call. I guess what I was most surprised with was Sandra’s humanity and her humility. She is someone I would have wanted to be friends with.

Illustration Details

Q 3. What is your favorite spread?

Molly Golden: How can I choose? Julia Breckenreid’s illustration work is stunning. The story spans decades, and I love how Julia included details about the fashion and eras throughout.

Molly Golden: If I must choose one, my favorite spread is when Sandra’s parents are waving to her as she leaves for elementary school on the train. (She stayed with her grandma in Texas to go to school during the academic year.) The page accompanying shows Sandra standing in front of the school. Her little ankle is bent outward. That one small detail showing a young girl about to embark on a new world speaks volumes.

The “Golden Thread”

Q 4. Both this book and Becoming Real: The True Story of the Velveteen Rabbit are nonfiction. What is it about nonfiction that pulls you to this genre?

Molly Golden: I am always pulled back into nonfiction, and especially into biographies. I love learning about people, especially women, in different eras: what they did, what they couldn’t do, what they wanted to do.

Every person’s life is a beautiful story and it is exciting to find the “golden thread” or “through line” in them. When we look back on our lives, so many of our passions and interests are seeded in childhood. It’s fascinating to look at someone’s life and say, “Ah, yes. It was there all along.” And then it’s really fun (and challenging) to communicate that passion to young readers.

Hope, Honesty, and Love

Q 5. How does being a mom and former teacher influence your path or process as a children’s author?

Molly Golden: Great question. Being a former middle school teacher and the mom of a teen and preteen has only strengthened my resolve to be completely honest in my writing. Life can be hard. Very hard. And life can be wonderful …extraordinarily wonderful. Young readers need to see all of it in the stories they read.

Molly Golden: Sandra had a very difficult uphill battle. She was teased and bullied even as an adult. It was important that readers saw that. But she never gave up, and she married a man who supported her. Readers needed to see that resolve –and that love and support too.

I want to tell stories where hard realities are seen and validated; but I also want to share that hope and love is always with us too.

Speaking of Love…

Q 6. If you had one question to ask Sandra Day O’Connor, what would it be?

Molly Golden: I would ask her…what is your favorite song to dance to?

She and her husband, John O’Connor, danced through their decades-long love story. I’d love to know her favorite.

What’s next?

Q 7. What’s next for you? Any new projects you can share?

Molly Golden: I have a couple more picture book biographies, about different, amazing women, which are currently looking for homes. I’ve tried a verse novel for the first time, and that has been a wonderful experience too.

Thank you so much, Molly, for joining us on the blog today.

And Happy Book Birthday!

To learn more about Molly Golden and her books,

check out her website: mollygoldenbooks.com

And follow her on social media:

IG: @mollygoldenbooks

BlueSky: @mollygolden.bsky.social

Next up on the blog:

We celebrate Jeanne Walker Harvey‘s newest nonfiction,

The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I. M. Pei

Illustrated by Khoa Le (Atheneum).