By now we’re all familiar with the broad outline of our FLOTUS's story, from her working-class childhood on Chicago’s South Side, to her Princeton and Harvard education, her job at a blue-chip law firm and her first meeting with the handsome summer associate with the big ears and the funny name. But Peter Slevin gives us a more detailed, nuanced look at the rise of the girl named Michelle Robinson to "the unlikeliest first lady in modern history." Most striking is the source of her motivation: "It was understood in the Robinson household that no matter what obstacles Michelle or [her brother] Craig faced because of their race or their working-class roots, life’s possibilities were unbounded." Michelle studied long hours, applied to Ivy League schools (despite being told by teachers that she’d never get in) and later put that same determination and discipline into the service of her public life. We see her passion for equality and her commitment to ending childhood obesity, but above all the takeaway is this: Never give anyone else the power to decide what is possible for you.
— Dawn Raffel
