Growing Up Biden

November 1, 2021

Biden Owens isn't simply the younger sister of President Joe Biden, here recalling their childhood in Delaware and helping to raise Biden's sons after the tragic deaths of their mother and sister. She has also been among Biden's key political advisers, having managed nearly all his political campaigns, including his successful presidential bid, and can offer important insights into both the president and U.S. politics generally. Her memoir tells a big story; with a 150,000-copy first printing. Pace and Superville, Washington bureau chief and White House reporter, respectively, for the Associated Press, have been following the First Lady closely and here present a thoroughgoing portrait, moving from her childhood, through her first marriage and divorce, marriage to Joe Biden, ascension to the public eye, commitment to her children, to ongoing career in education. The book presents her as a model for a wide range of women. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 3, 2022
“I’m not a political scientist, nor am I a policy wonk. However, I am an expert on Joe Biden,” writes the president’s younger sister in this touching account of life with her oldest sibling. Born in 1945, Biden Owens was close to Biden from a young age. “Our parents,” she writes, “drilled it into our heads from birth that we were to take care of one another.” This mentality helped them weather incredible losses, including the 1972 deaths of Biden’s wife and daughter in a car accident. At the time, Biden Owens—who had just managed Biden’s successful underdog U.S. Senate campaign—was an essential presence for her nephews, Beau and Hunter Biden, which enabled her brother to assume his duties and to go on to become Delaware’s longest-serving senator. A key advisor to Biden throughout his political career, she details the guidance she offered him—“serv as his sounding board or gut check, and speak as a truth-teller”—while touching on familiar beats in the arc of Biden’s career, including his first two presidential campaigns, and tenure as vice president. However, the best moments are Biden Owens’s intimate recollections, such as her awkward first meeting with the future Jill Biden over a tuna salad lunch (“I gestured toward it, calling to her as if she were a scared cat”). Politics aside, this shines with heart and humanity. Agent: Matt Latimer, Javelin.

February 1, 2022
Of all the titles Owens claims--educator, media consultant, campaign manager--the one she prefers is sister to the president. In fact, one could omit "to the President," and she'd like that just fine. Unlike many siblings, Valerie and Joe have been close their entire lives, as chums and confidants, protectors and supporters. When Joe first ran for public office, he chose Valerie over seasoned professionals to handle his campaign, and the duo never looked back. From his first county-level race to his legendary U.S. Senate career to the vice presidency and, finally, the presidency, Valerie called the shots, to the consternation of the old boy network. But for Valerie, only one old boy mattered, her big brother. Owens chronicles the arc of her brother's political and personal ascendancy as well as her own justly deserved reputation as a political guru. Adoring, almost worshipful in tone, Owens offers both triumphant and tragic memories in an easy and unpretentious manner that conveys the abiding influence of family, faith, and friendship in the Biden universe.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: First Sister Owens' memoir of life with her brother Joe and becoming one of the first women to run major political campaigns will pique the interest of politicos.

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February 15, 2022
A spirited account of life in the Biden crew by the president's only sister. In this depiction of her life with her older brother, Joe, and their two younger siblings, Biden Owens (b. 1945) offers rosy hindsight that comes from a life well lived. The author's parents consistently stressed the importance of family from an early age, and it becomes clear that this shared value has been the glue and momentum that has kept their lives whole and moving forward, even in the face of heartbreaking loss. Biden Owens points out that comparing the Irish Catholic Biden family to the Kennedys is low-hanging fruit--"in terms of finances and political clout, we were pretty far from Camelot," she writes, and her mother once said, "Damn it, we were Bidens before we ever heard of the Kennedys"--but it's hard not to trace the similarities, particularly the tragedies that both families endured. The author takes us through her peripatetic childhood with her family (including a revolving door of welcomed relatives coming in and out), her school years, Joe's decision to run for the New Castle County Council in 1970, and his equally important decision to hire sister "Val" as his campaign manager. The narrative gallops along at a decent pace, and we see the White House as the finish line. Throughout, Biden Owens pauses to examine various turning points, including that historic county council race and her involvement with the long-gestating Violence Against Women Act, which was signed into law in 1994, "four years after my brother Joe began his offensive" to pass the legislation. Particularly notable is the author's examination of her faith. A devout Catholic who nonetheless believes in signs and totems, she is clearly a determined woman who exudes the warmth and capabilities her big brother has always known. A ringing endorsement of the power of a supportive family, especially for those in the public eye.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2022

This family memoir by Joe Biden's youngest sister, who was also his longtime campaign manager, is unusual in combining accounts of family life and of a politician's campaign and governing experiences. Owens lived with Biden and took care of his sons after their mother and baby sister died in a car accident, so she has particular insight into Biden's personal life and his devotion to family. Her book provides details about the tight-knit Biden family's devotion to one another and their Catholic faith's influence on their political philosophies. She sensitively covers the tragedies the Bidens faced and shows that they strengthened the already-tight bonds that helped them recover. Owens stresses that in the early years, it was exceptional for a woman to manage a U.S. Senate campaign, and she describes the sexism she faced throughout the years of being Biden's campaign manager and reflects on what it means to be the first woman in U.S. history to have run a presidential campaign. VERDICT Owens's narrative is informative and engaging and is a perceptive firsthand account of President Biden's background. Readers who are interested in political campaign operations and strategy or want to know more about the Bidens will enjoy this book.--Jill Ortner

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.