What Louis Brandeis Knows: A Crusader for Social Justice Becomes a Supreme Court Justice

by Richard Michelson, Stacy Innerst (Illustrator)

Overview

Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there was Louis D. Brandeis: a lawyer/activist turned Supreme Court Justice who drew on common sense and Jewish values to make a difference.

This nonfiction picture book for young readers ages 7 - 10 brings to life a man full of wit and common sense, a trailblazer to inspire Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike.

Louis Brandeis knows it’s up to him to change the world. He has seen how some people are treated poorly because of their race or their religion or because they are poor. If I were a lawyer like Uncle Dembitz, he thinks, I could fight for those who need extra help. Guided by his uncle’s example, his father’s practical wisdom, and Jewish values of equality and justice, Brandeis gets to work as a lawyer, making sure everyone has a chance. Louis knows it’s important to fight for worker’s rights and women’s rights. Louis knows (before most people!) that everyone has the right to privacy. And Louis knows it’s important to support arguments with facts.

What Louis doesn’t know is that he’ll become the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice in 1916, and his fight for justice will only continue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662680649
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	10/07/2025
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Richard Michelson is the author of The Language of Angels: The Reinvention of Hebrew, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award, and Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy, which received the Massachusetts Book Award Honor, a Sydney Taylor Award Silver Medal, and an NCSS Notable Book. His most recent picture book is One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor. He owns R. Michelson Galleries, is the host of Northampton Poetry Radio, and is the current poet laureate of Northampton, MA.

Painter and educator Stacy Innerst is the illustrator of The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come, winner of the Sydney Taylor Award; Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of RBG vs. Inequality, which received the New York Times/NYPL Best Illustrated Children's Books Award; The Music in George’s Head, which received the SCBWI Golden Kite for Picture Book Illustration. His most recent books include The Painter and the President, and Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony.

Editorial Reviews

"What the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice knew could fill a book... A solid introduction to an honorable man, known for his fair-minded rulings."—Kirkus Reviews

"Notable episodes in the personal and professional development of Louis Brandeis, a groundbreaking lawyer, show how his upbringing and lived experiences fueled his ascent to the Supreme Court, as its first Jewish justice... Clear and compelling present-tense text shapes loosely interpreted primary documents, including Brandeis’s recollections and writings, into dialogue detailing noteworthy vignettes... A commendable addition to biography collections, especially those emphasizing social justice."—Booklist

“Richard Michelson and Stacy Innerst have prepared an artful and informative book about America’s leading Jewish jurist. I know that Louis Brandeis’s grandson, my late husband, Frank Brandeis Gilbert, would be delighted by this important project. It will enlighten the lives of young readers and, perhaps, older readers as well.” —Ann Gilbert

From the Publisher

2025-07-19
What the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice knew could fill a book.

Throughout this picture-book biography, Michelson reiterates the many things that Louis Brandeis knows. At age 5, “he knows his parents came to America in 1848,” as Jewish refugees from Prague. And thanks to his family—in particular, his opinionated father—he knows that people should be treated equally regardless of their religion, ethnicity, or gender. That attitude informs his work as a lawyer as he successfully argues for better working hours and wages for factory workers, protects customers from railroad tycoons’ exorbitant fees, and holds President William Taft to his promise to safeguard America’s forests. For his efforts, he’s nominated to the Supreme Court by President Woodrow Wilson. His enemies’ accusations that he’s a “radical, a muckraker, and a traitor” jeopardize his chances, but Louis also knows that he’s “fought for ordinary citizens over the years.” Letters of support arrive from far and wide. Appointed to the court at last, “Louis knows for certain that his fight for social justice has just begun.” Michelson’s narrative is robust, though on the dry side until the backmatter, where details truly bring Brandeis’ story to life. Innerst’s droll illustrations have a mystical, Chagall-like feel in some spreads, while others feel more down to earth.

A solid introduction to an honorable man, known for his fair-minded rulings. (more about Louis Brandeis and the Supreme Court, photographs, timeline, bibliography, picture credits)(Picture-book biography. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews