WHAT IF YOU COULD

A former New Zealand prime minister’s memoir, skillfully repackaged for teens by Shamir.

Growing up, Jacinda Ardern never expected to become a politician. Despite her passion for politics, she believed that she was too thin-skinned to succeed in that field. But she discovered that her “flaws”—anxiety, sensitivity, over-preparation, and a tendency toward imposter syndrome—could also be her strengths. She shares this encouraging message with readers, along with her signature leadership principle of kindness. Ardern tells her story in vivid vignettes, beginning with her childhood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, living in small communities where her father was a policeman. Ardern excelled on the high school debate team while dealing with debilitating worrying. She volunteered and then started working for the Labour Party and was eventually elected to parliament herself. A progressive, she had already left the church over their opposition to LGBTQ+ rights. In September 2017, a month before becoming prime minister, she learned that she was pregnant. Ardern pushed herself to prove that she could run the country while pregnant and then as a new mother, but burnout was inevitable; she concludes with her decision to resign in January 2023. A timeline would have been handy for tracking events, but this is an engaging read for teens that offers a peek behind the scenes of the life of a remarkable and influential woman.

Candid insights from a role model for kindness in government.