by Sarah Palin
First published 2009
Sarah Palin opens her story in Alaska, where she grew up in the wilderness and met her husband, a blue collar union worker. As governor of America's largest state, she fought the political establishment and took on Big Oil while pushing through ethics reform and energy independence initiatives. Her life as a working mother of five children, including a son serving in Iraq and an infant with special needs, shaped her approach to public service. When John McCain selected her as his running mate in 2008, Palin found herself thrust into the national spotlight after her electrifying Republican Convention speech. She describes the intense pressures of the presidential campaign, the attacks from opponents who called her unprepared, and the support from Americans who saw her as an honest advocate for their interests. Palin reveals her perspective on the political operatives and patriots she encountered during the race, offering her view of high stakes national politics from a mother's standpoint.
Genres: american, political-science, politics, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Alaska, Iraq
Period: 2008
413 pages · Hardcover · HarperCollins