Sen. Mazie K. Hirono is outspoken, self-assured and not afraid to say no.

These may seem like traits expected of a politician. But Hirono, the first Asian American woman elected to the U.S. Senate and the only immigrant serving there, began her career as a soft-spoken public servant.

“I came to realize that I was holding myself back by not stepping up, so I began to step up. And I gave a voice to the kinds of things I have fought for my entire political life,” Hirono said in a recent phone interview. “Clearly, this bully needed to be stood up to.”

That “bully” was former President Donald Trump. Hirono made headlines in 2018 when she told men in Congress to “just shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change,” following the sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (now a justice).

In her new memoir, “Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story,” Hirono chronicles her transition from a poor upbringing in Hawaii to a groundbreaking path to one of the country’s highest offices, where she advocates for workers, women, students and teachers, and immigrants.

Dedicated to her mother — whose resolve and resilience inspired Hirono to live boldly and to fight with everything she has — “Heart of Fire” focuses on, beyond politics, Hirono’s childhood and her mother, who left an abusive relationship in Japan to bring the senator and her siblings to Hawaii when Hirono was a child. The memoir is inspiring and compassionate, and illustrates the cultural and gendered lines the senator walks, and what led her to oppose the Trump administration.

I only knew of Mazie Hirono's name because of her political career. This book grabbed my attention, as I love an "underdog" story and her mom was an underdog when she left an abusive husband and brought her two oldest children to the United States to start a new life. Coming here from Japan and not knowing English made things more difficult for this mother and her children, but Mazie was able to use their new beginning in America to move up in the Democratic Party and work to ensure that others that come to America are able to have a better life. This woman is so much more than a politician and I am so happy that I read her story.