Untitled Celadon Memoir Winter 2022

**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**

A memoir from Valerie Biden Owens, Joe Biden’s younger sister, trusted confidante and lifelong campaign manager. Valerie, one of the first female campaign managers in United States history, writes of the role of family, faith, and fate in shaping her life, and the power of empathy and kindness in the face of turmoil and division.

Growing Up Biden details Valerie’s decades-long professional career in politics, and the central role she played in her brother’s life as an insightful adviser, an ever-loyal advocate and best friend.

This memoir, full of candor and warmth, brings readers into the Biden home and shares stories from growing up in Delaware as the only daughter of the close-knit Irish Catholic family. Valerie writes in a compelling, relatable way about the challenges she faced breaking through gender barriers, the elusive nature of confidence, and navigating professional responsibilities while raising children.

Valerie Biden Owens is one of the first women in the United States to have managed a modern U.S. Senatorial campaign, as well as his most recent campaign. Mrs. Biden Owens has led nearly every campaign in her brother Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s political career, including his seven straight U.S. Senate victories and his run for two Democratic Presidential nominations. She also has been his principal surrogate on the campaign trail. Valerie is the Vice Chair of the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, the Vice Chair of the Biden Foundation, a partner at Owens Patrick Leadership Seminars, and the National Co-Chair of Biden for President 2020. Valerie sits on the Advisory Board of the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children. For 20 years, when Valerie was not managing or advising President Biden’s campaigns, she served as Executive Vice President of Joe Slade White & CO, a media consulting firm. She has worked extensively with Women’s Campaign International, teaching women how to organize and develop communication and political skills. Valerie has also served on the National Board of the Women’s Leadership Forum of the Democratic National Committee and has served for 35 years on the board of The Ministry of Caring. She is a graduate of the University of Delaware, which recently bestowed upon her an honorary Doctorate, and is married to Jack Owens, an attorney and businessman. They have three children.