‘Heroes stand up for what’s right’ wrote the US VP in book for children  

Is Kamala Harris the most written about US Vice President? Even before she was sworn in this week, several books have been written on the remarkable lady of immigrant parents. The latest to join the list is Hachette India’s biography, Kamala Harris: The American Story that Began on India’s Shore, written by Hansa Makhijani Jain.

The US Vice President, daughter of an Indian immigrant mother and a Jamaican American father, herself is the author of several books.

Released ahead of her presidential campaign in 2019, The Truths We Hold was meant to be an introduction to her values. Featuring a blend of career highlights and personal philosophy, Harris's book describes the relationships that inspired her over the years.

"A patriot is not someone who condones the conduct of our country whatever it does. It is someone who fights every day for the ideals of the country, whatever it takes,” she wrote. It is a book which has been quoted extensively for the clarity with which she laid down her philosophical approach to public life.

“We cannot solve our most stubborn problems unless we are honest about what they are, unless we are willing to have difficult conversations and accept what facts make plain. We need to speak truth: that there are forces of hate in this country—racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-Semitism—and we need to confront them,” she comments. With characteristic candour, she writes, “with the exception of Native Americans, we all descend from people who weren’t born on our shores—whether our ancestors came to America willingly, with hopes of a prosperous future, or forcibly, on a slave ship, or desperately, to escape a painful past."

The newly sworn-in US Vice President has also written a book for children, an illustrated book for readers aged three to seven. What makes a superhero? Is it the ability to fly—or is it kindness, bravery, and doing the right thing in the face of adversity?

She tells young readers that ‘super powers’ are hard to come by. She argues that being heroic has to do with choice and character. Superheroes Are Everywhere makes its points by posing questions to young audiences: "Heroes stand up for what is right. Who stands up for what is right in your life?"

Kamala Harris was a lawyer and prosecutor before taking the plunge for public office. First elected San Francisco district attorney in 2003, Harris's decisions while in that role and as a district attorney came under scrutiny during the campaign. In her first book published in 2009, she focused on criminal justice reform.

“The job of a progressive prosecutor is to look out for the overlooked, to speak up for those whose voices aren’t being heard, to see and address the causes of crime, not just their consequences, and to shine a light on the inequality and unfairness that lead to injustice,” she wrote. “It is to recognize that not everyone needs punishment, that what many need, quite plainly, is help.” Meena Harris lovingly wrote this tribute to her aunt, Kamala, and her mom, Maya, in another children's book published in 2020, Kamala and Maya's Big Idea.

The bookwas inspired by a real incident in the Harris girls' childhood, when they decided to turn their empty apartment courtyard into a community garden.In doing so, the sisters planted seeds for fruits and vegetables, and for their futures as change-makers.