Customer Reviews

Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down

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This book was written and published months before Sarah Palin became the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, so those harping about this being a political stunt for McCain need to go back and brush up on their reading skills: Published April, 2008. I'm sure now there will be other books written, both praising and condemning her.

This is a basic introduction to Mrs. Palin, a place to start for anyone wanting to find out about her early years.

This is a review of the book, not of Sarah Palin as a candidate. I felt I needed to get my hands on this in order to learn more about the person who has been thrust into the national spotlight and may soon hold an extremely high position in the U.S. Government. Her selection came as a surprise and I had to try and understand why John McCain chose her, other than because she brings excitement and intrigue to the ticket.

This brief book, a character sketch with many photos, is written in a straightforward style. It holds Sarah Palin in a very positive light. (Initially published before her selection as the GOP running mate, this version has been renamed and scooped up by people like me as an attempt to get to know her.) She is portrayed as an ordinary mom (a hockey mom) who, according to her father, has had an impenetrable stubborn streak since childhood.

The family came to Alaska from Idaho in 1969. She is the daughter of a teacher (and part time hunting/fishing guide) and a school secretary. They lived modestly. Her highlight reel in public life includes a captain's position on the high school JV basketball team, the beauty queen title "Miss Wasilla," and stint on the city council. This was her introduction to the good old boys network, which she has spent the rest of her career pushing aside. She was elected president of the Alaska Council of Mayors, chaired the gas and oil conservation commission and gained a reputation as a reformer. Next step: the Governor's office, which she's held for two years.

Does this brief introduction to this head-turning politician enable the reader to decide whether or not she's qualified to be a heartbeat away from the highest elected office in the land? No. Is it an interesting read? Yes. All party politics aside, she's a fascinating woman. And right now, this slim book provided more information than I could get anywhere else.

Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club.

Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, is what Donald Trump would call "A Phenom." Frequently mentioned as a potential Vice President for the Republican ticket, she has energy, youth, and principle on her side. Her grass-roots effort to upset the entrenched and corrupt Alaskan political establishment is nothing short of amazing. She is a no-apologies conservative Republican intent on bringing accountability to government. Efforts to label her as a lightweight have backfired as she has out-maneuvered, out-talked, out-flanked, and soundly beaten her political opponents at every turn, much to their dismay that she doesn't play by their self-serving rules. Immensely popular, she is, in short, a breath of fresh Alaskan air blowing from the North.

This biography details Sarah's early life and upbringing and family and covers her early political career up to the time she is elected to the office of Governor. It's an interesting read, almost breathlessly optimistic. For those who savor details of Sarah Palin's life, this is a first step. However, it is painful to say, but though Sarah Palin has proven beyond doubt that she is no lightweight, this book, at less than 150 pages of actual text, is. It lacks any critical depth and leaves wide gaps in background information on the campaigns and issues involved. We learn about government-Big Oil collusion and corruption, but in only a few sentences. The chapter on former governor Frank Murkowski's downfall is a shy two pages long. In many ways the book serves as a pretty good hors d'oeuvre, but we are left starving for the main course, for analysis, critique, and depth of field. One gets the impression it may have been rushed to print in time for the election.

Frankly, I would be happy to support Sarah Palin for Vice President on a McCain/Palin ticket. I think she's up for the job, though Alaskans would be loathe to lose her. But she deserves a more in-depth biography than this happy-talk effort. I still recommend this book. It's all we have, and the color pictures are really good!

Update: August 29th. Well ain't that sweet. I wrote this review in April and here we are: Sarah Palin for Vice President. It's a great day!

This is a personal and affectionate profile of Alaska's popular governor. For those disappointed in this, understand it was released in April 2008, so was not written as a PR piece for the 2008 presidential campaign and doesn't seriously scrutinize her politics. This is a plus, since it is devoid of partisan opinions. It shows her integrity and independent spirit and how she took on the Alaska Republican machine because no one else could or would. On the down side, it glosses over the Bridge to Nowhere controversy, which she switched sides on after becoming governor. And yes, she really did put the governor's jet on eBay. It is an interesting short read, giving insight into why McCain chose her as his running mate. It's time he unleashed Sarah Barracuda.

Many enlivened to the 2008 presidential election by Gov. Palin's participation want to know more about this fresh face that has the left in paroxysms of ad hoc outrage. I wanted to know more, too, especially since she hails from my home state and grew up (in Wasilla) about thirty miles from where I did (in Anchorage).

This book is an enjoyable, friendly, and compelling story of the rise of an Alaskan women to the Governor's mansion. It was written before Gov. Palin became the Vice Presidential nominee. Apparently, it is being republished by a major publisher. This edition is by a small publisher.

This is not an expose or an in-depth assessment of Gov. Palin's personal life or politics. You will not find any psychoanalysis, cultural critique, or political theorizing. It is a homey biography. The broad outlines are of a truly Alaskan (tough, independent) women whose determination and principles led her into political leadership and to challenge some of the major political players in Alaska.

Readers will become more informed about the Alaskan way of life, which is quite alien to many in "the lower forty-eight," as we say. Alaskans love the outdoors, its scenery and wildlife. They often hunt, fish, climb, and sky. It is an oil-rich state with a significant population of native Alaskans from various tribes. (Gov. Palin is married to a man who is half native Alaskan.) Those who write off Gov. Palin as "the new governor of a sparsely populated state" (the Democrats' talking point) will find that governing Alaskans is anything but easy. The state brings its own unique challenges and requires real savvy from its leaders.

I'm sure several books will be written about Sarah Palin in the years to come--and from every possible angle. She is a compelling figure and may be in the political theater (I hope) for years to come. This book, though, will take its place as a matter-of-fact chronicle of an unlikely ascent to public service.

Author Kaylene Johnson mentions the concept of "Sarah-dipity" on several occasions throughout this short, 146-page book. Talk about "Sarah-dipity" that Johnson had her manuscript ready to go to press when Sen. John McCain brought Gov. Sarah Palin onto a stage in Dayton, Ohio, a few weeks ago and introduced her to the U.S. as his running mate for vice president! This concise bio is definitely an upbeat, "campaign biography" (unabashedly slanted in Palin's favor), which I found helpful to people (like me) who are sifting through endless numbers of sound bites and apocryphal stories while trying to get to the heart of who Sarah Palin is. Johnson describes her as a fearless yet down-to-earth Alaskan--a "populist" who is willing to take on "good ol' boys," regardless of their political party affiliations and financial connections. The closing sections of the book seem to be hastily written, which is understood considering the time crunch of the campaign season. However, the meatier parts--those relating to Palin's service as mayor of Wasilla and reformer of Alaskan state government--compose the real story that Johnson is trying to tell, and the story which Americans need to hear. I came away from reading this short biography with a respect for the industrious and independent-thinking Alaskan people, from whom Palin comes and whom Palin hopes to "put on the map," so to speak, come 11.04.08.

Before John McCain's surprise anointment of Sarah Palin as his running mate in August 2008, non-Alaskans who knew about Sarah Palin at all were likely (like me) to be policy wonks following the Troopergate controversy. After buying this book last summer, I read it twice, and wouldn't have reviewed it at all if Palin appeared to be returning gracefully to occupy herself with the business of her home state. She has not. Those "Where's Sarah?" buttons worn in Juneau, while she was charging the state per diem to live in her Wasilla home, reportedly have reappeared after the elections. As the instant celebrity that our nation excels--for better or worse--in creating, Palin doesn't seem to want to surrender the spotlight in which she basks any more than she wanted to relinquish the six-figure wardrobe purchased by the RNC. Consequently, readers need a substantive, thoughtful biography, written by someone who knows Alaska politics and isn't blinded by Sarah Palin's marquee power. (And whoever "indexed" this booklet should be flogged.)

This book, unfortunately, reads like a fanzine. In its small format, there are 32 full pages of photos and just 90 pages of text, with generous, generous white space. Five of the 90 pages are devoted to Palin's JV and varsity high-school basketball experiences. The index is both incomplete and inaccurate. Senator Ted Stevens, arguably the most prominent politician in Alaska history, allegedly appears on just two pages. One is an error, and Palin's long, intertwined history with Stevens is conveniently absent. Johnston even misspells her subject's name, at least twice.

"Sarah" is studded with the memes Palin made famous. Johnston calls Palin from the title onward a "hockey mom," but offers no details at all of that experience. Palin considered a Senate run in 2004, says Johnston, but one reason she didn't was because her eldest child, Track, then "planned to attend a high school out of state to play hockey." That year, Track was 15; he later left Alaska for his senior year in Michigan after an appearance in juvenile court that I won't go into. Among the many, many errors or omissions in this book are that Palin sold the governor's private jet on eBay (it was briefly listed there, but later sold, at a loss, through a broker, not eBay); that Palin was named Miss Congeniality in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant (she wasn't), that she "attended" the University of Hawaii at Hilo, from which she "transferred" to Hawaii Pacific U. for a year, where Palin earned "straight A's" (Palin never registered at Hilo, and the only source of her alleged grades is the woman herself); that she went straight from North Idaho College to the state university (no mention of her attendances at Mat-Su's community college); that "when the [Heath] family wasn't running or hiking, it was hunting or fishing," yet Palin is a "bookworm" and "compulsive reader" (not a single author, book, or periodical is named anywhere); that she couldn't have ignored the concerns of Alaskan indigenous people because husband Todd Palin is a "Native" (he is one-eighth Yup'ik), and that her campaigns have been "focused on openness and transparency" (even as mayor of Wasilla, Palin got into hot water for sending official correspondence on her personal e-mail account, as she did--and for all we know, still does--as governor); and that she "learned to never tell a lie" (is her daughter Bristol named after the Alaska town or the Connecticut city, home of ESPN? Palin has said both, repeatedly. And if she'll lie about that, what else?).

This book was published in 2008, late enough for the references in the back to include a Palin interview in Vogue. However, Johnston inexplicably ends her narrative after Palin's election as governor in 2006, with a brief, three-page "epilogue" about selected actions as governor (not a mention of Walt Monegan, the public official Palin sacked for failing to fire her former brother-in-law), and only a fleeting reference to the multimillion-dollar hockey rink built in Wasilla. Johnston doesn't mention that construction began before the land it occupies was formally purchased, or that its cost left the small town deeply in debt. There's a six-page appendix comprising her unmemorable inaugural address as governor.

The author's internal editor didn't even keep her from including a grossly unflattering detail from Palin's campaign against former Governor Tony Knowles, who "rolled out a four-year plan for education. When it was Sarah's turn to speak, she paid tribute to her father as a beloved school teacher and promised--without specifics--to make education a top priority. 'The Knowles camp was apoplectic,'" noted Bill McAllister from KTUU in Anchorage, adding, "'They couldn't figure out why the media wasn't all over what a twit she was.'" This isn't an Amazon reviewer speaking here: Johnston is quoting a television broadcaster from a station that covers Sarah Palin regularly, even blocking access to its Palin archives to journalists and the public.

No, I'm not a Palin-hater, though I find her fascinating (probably for all the wrong reasons). She's a force of nature as well as a figure that will be reckoned with in national politics for the foreseeable future. We need substantial reporting on Sarah Palin, not Hostess Sno-Balls between covers.

As a foreigner to this country, I have been able to observe the American political process dispassionately, and yet with a very interested eye.

We can all safely say, now, that the Presidential Election campaign of 2008 has been the most singular, topsy-turvy presidential run in American history. Only 1912 comes close, for remarkably similar reasons -- a clash of ideologies and personalities which finally coincided one very special year.

What makes this election so very different, is that we have had not one, but now two women running for the highest positions in the land: something few people in the world would've imagined a scant 4 years ago. Combined with the intricate life story of Senator Barack Obama, the first black American to be nominated by a major political Party, and a war hero of the stature of Senator John McCain, it all makes for a potent message of change and diversity, no matter which side you favour.

I have bought this book twice. Once at Barnes & Noble, after learning that Amazon had sold out all its paperback copies. And now in Kindle format.

(If you have bought the Kindle format, you'll be happy to know that even the photographs are included, in the "Photo Insert" section in the Table of Contents. Of course, they are in the usual e-Ink, black and white version)

Since author Kaylene Johnson has been much in the news, notably interviewed by Greta van Susteren for a Fox News special on Palin, and of course, so has Governor Sarah Palin herself, one would think that this thin (145 pp) book might not be of use in learning about the Alaskan maverick.

Perhaps it might be thin, but it has some poignant revelations not just about her upbringing, but about her character.

Some points I can bring out, to whet your whistle:

- She is a voracious newspaper reader, and in fact, this contributed to her very early myopia and glasses-wearing. Her younger sister remembers Sarah Heath, as she was then, devouring books as well. She was a straight-A student, both in high school and in University.

- Her father, Chuck, was a legendary figure in her school, and taught all 4 of his children to enjoy the outdoors, to hunt, fish, and run even in negative 40 degree Fahrenheit weather. Her mother, also Sarah (known as Sally), was a happy, approachable woman, in many ways who her namesake resembles.

- She attended 4 not 6 Universities, as several rumour sites had it. University of Hawaii in Hilo (she and her 3 gal pals left due to incessant rain); Hawaii Pacific University (where she and 1 of the girls who remained, shared a flat, sometimes visiting the set of Magnum PI); North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene (where she did something naughty, requiring a visit to her Dean's Office); and finally, the University of Idaho, where she was graduated with a major in journalism, and a minor in political science.

- Her husband, a standout basketball player, is from native Alaskan stock and extremely hearty. Once when salmon fishing in bad weather, her fingers were crushed, but after Todd Palin deposited her in the mainland to be stitched up, she returned later and continued fishing.

- She has made a fair amount of enemies within her OWN Party, running as a reformer since the very beginning in the political cycle of PTA committee member, in the city council, as mayor and as Governor. One gets the sense that Alaskan politics, at once so exotic to so many of us, is full of the same entrenched power politics and corruption that plagues so many places.

There are many reasons to buy this book. It is neither a hagiography, nor does it portray a negative picture of Governor Palin either.

Unfortunately, the rumours which have surrounded this woman (in one site I saw over 71 of them, and even Snopes and Politifacts.com haven't been able to target all of them) since her candidacy was announced, make for a very confused portrait.

If you come to this book wanting dirt on her, I'd say it's a waste of your time. But if you come with genuine interest, and an open mind, I definitely recommend it to all.

I read this book while my 2 year napped in about 3 1/2 hours. I was blown away at Sarah Palins politcal sucess. For the first time in my life I am proud to really support this woman's candidancy. This book is simple and easy to read through. It is NOT all fluff, it is factual and to the point. I wanted to have an open mind about Sarah Palin's experience and was not afraid to be somewhat critical of her. She DID SHAKE THINGS UP IN ALASKA. Living in the Left Coast (CA). The way things are in Alaska makes me want to pack my bags right now and raise a family in Wasilla. Sarah Palin is an amazing true Feminist, she is what TRUE WOMAN IS ALL ABOUT AND I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT SHE DOES IN WASHINGTON. GO SARAH!

A very well written, engaging book that will give insight to a very real woman who is very much like many other women today. This woman is accomplished, devoted to her family, faith and country. Sarah Palin has taken it just a bit further; she has taken on big government and corporations and the wheeling and dealing that has undermined our government and has jaded voters creating apathy. Sarah Palin reminds us that our Country is great because if its people not government. A woman who faced scrutiny and derision to become Alaska's Governor now faces the same in a blown up scale to possibly become the first woman Republican Vice President. It is refreshing and very well might bring a breath of fresh air to Washington D.C. that may clear up the political pollution spreading across our country.