Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Some people are hardwired to pursue their lives' passion. The daughter of Ann Richards, the firebrand feminist Texan politician, and David Richards, a landmark civil rights attorney, Richards learned about having the courage of one's convictions at an early age. She championed workers' rights for janitors and nursing-home staff and protested punitive voter restrictions wherever they occurred, experiences that would eventually put her on Capitol Hill working for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But it is her work as president of Planned Parenthood that catapulted her to national attention, especially in the wake of nearly constant GOP assaults to defund the organization during the passage of the Affordable Care Act and subsequent budget battles. As she speaks admiringly of her mother's trailblazing career and lovingly about the nascent political and organizing work of her three children, Richards makes clear that the life of a grassroots activist can be an all-consuming mission, but one that reaps untold personal benefits and results in unimaginable rewards for individuals and the nation. An intimate yet wide-ranging chronicle of a life in the trenches and at the pinnacle of her profession, Richards' enthralling memoir will provide rousing motivation for anyone passionate about social and political causes.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2018 Booklist

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Richards, president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, here traces her life as an activist. Born in Waco, TX, in 1957, Richards was raised by progressive parents; her mother, Ann, was a feminist, and her father, David, a labor and civil rights attorney. She protested the Vietnam War and honed her skills as an activist at Brown University. One of her first jobs was as an organizer for the United Labor Union in New Orleans, where she met her husband, Kirk Adams. Richards organized nursing home staff in Southern California and repeatedly notes the courage of the workers who were willing to put themselves on the line at great cost to make change. Later, she moved to Austin to help her mother become the first female governor of Texas. Along the way, the author had a family, eventually relocating to Washington, DC, to work for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; then on to New York to run Planned Parenthood. During her tenure at Planned Parenthood, Richards never wavered in her resolve to battle funding cuts to the organization and ensure that a woman's right to a safe and legal abortion is nonnegotiable. VERDICT Documenting an inspiring life and offering a call to action, this timely volume is for all readers.- Barrie Olmstead, Sacramento P.L. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The president of Planned Parenthood recounts her life as an activist.For decades, Richards has been at the forefront of anti-war, civil rights, labor, and women's issues; as she demonstrates, activism and the desire to work for the common good run in her family. Her father was a labor attorney and environmentalist, and her mother, Ann Richards, was a fierce fighter for women's rights who became governor of Texas. As a high school girl new to Austin (she was born in Waco), she made and wore a black arm band supporting the moratorium to end the Vietnam War. After graduation, she headed east to Brown University. She supported striking janitors and librarians, took a semester off to intern for the Project on the Status and Education of Women in Washington, D.C., and became a union organizer in New Orleans. There, she met and married labor organizer Kirk Adams and formed a family that has supported labor across the country ever since. After some time in Southern California, she went back to Texas to work for her mother's campaign for governor, and she formed the Texas Freedom Network to fight against right-wing textbook censorship. Then it was off to Washington again to serve on Nancy Pelosi's staff. The author sprinkles short asides throughout the book that alternate between genuinely instructional and boring—e.g., well-worn tips on work-life balance. However, the guidelines for starting any organization are spot-on: direct, down-to-earth, and highly practical. In 2006, Richards and her family moved to New York City so she could assume the lead role at Planned Parenthood in 2006, and she has made the organization instrumental in a wide variety of women's -rights causes. In the past year, she has spent considerable time battling for her organization amid the Trump administration's efforts to cut funding.A memoir that makes palpable the immense influence of an organization that has improved so many women's lives.

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From protesting the Vietnam War in seventh grade to her years as the president of Planned Parenthood, Richards recounts how she became an activist fighting for women's rights and social justice. She credits her progressive parents, who raised her to question authority and fight to make a difference in people's lives. To some extent, the memoir serves as an ode to her mother-Texas governor the late Ann Richards, whose influence is woven throughout the chapters of her daughter's story. Richards writes unapologetically about her beliefs and politics, catering to her progressive audience. She entertains and inspires with stories about her testimony before a congressional committee reviewing taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood to various moving accounts of the champions of the women's rights movement, including a murdered doctor in Wichita, KS, who supported the pro-choice movement. VERDICT Richards's reading pulls listeners deeper into the narrative. The tempo and emotion in her delivery give them front-row seats to key events in recent history and will inspire them to stand up, speak out, and lead. ["Documenting an inspiring life and offering a call to action, this timely volume is for all readers": LJ 4/15/18 review of the Touchstone hc.]-Gladys Alcedo, Wallingford, CT © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Questioning authority and challenging the status quo are expected behaviors for most teens, and often considered part of a necessary rite of passage into adulthood. Activism, on the other hand, is not always viewed with the same level of acceptance. In her autobiographical book on leadership, Richards, the quintessential cheerleader for activists of all ages, champions those who publicly take a stand for what they believe. She started making "trouble" at 13 and has never stopped. Her excitement about "fighting the good fight" is palpable. She was raised by liberal parents who worked for social justice on many fronts. In highly conservative Waco, TX, they were avid campaigners for local Democratic candidates, and Richards and her siblings spent many afternoons stuffing envelopes at campaign headquarters. After years of organizing for workers' rights, she followed in the footsteps of her mother, Governor Ann Richards, by taking up the fight for a woman's right to dominion over her own body and access to health care. The author recounts with equal enthusiasm the many campaigns for causes she's lost right alongside the ones she's won. Now, stepping down after 12 years at the helm of Planned Parenthood, Richards appears poised to enter the political arena, joining a growing number of women hoping to change the paternalistic course of U.S. history. VERDICT An inspiring volume for teens looking to involve themselves in politics and/or social justice activism.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.