SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR

In the ""American Women of Achievement"" series, a sturdy portrait of the likable, hard-working Supreme Court judge. Raised on a ranch, O'Connor had her eye on public service almost from the time she passed the bar exam and realized that few law firms would take a chance on a female lawyer. But a life in public service was more of a mission than a strategy--at least according to this biographer, who describes (sometimes rapturously) O'Connor's long hours of work and fights for fairness. Huber also presents an intriguing, surprisingly detailed glimpse of O'Connor's staff and of her annual October-June stint in Washington. Brisk discussions about the administration of justice offer food for thought here, while only hard-core skeptics will wonder whether O'Connor's personality and integrity are too good to be true. Illustrated with b&w photos; further reading; chronology; index.