'Up Home: One Girl's Journey' is a moving narrative that tells the story of Ruth J. Simmons, who rose from her humble beginnings in Jim Crow Texas to become the first Black president of an Ivy League university. Growing up as the youngest of twelve children in a sharecropper family, her childhood was marked by the absence of modern comforts like running water, electricity, and books. Through her compelling tale, she explores how her family's love and determination, alongside the support from her community, played crucial roles in shaping her future. Her journey from the fields of East Texas through historical eras of racial and economic injustice is an inspiring testament to the power of education and perseverance. Ruth J. Simmons' prose weaves an origin story set against the backdrop of segregation in the South and the dawn of the civil rights movement, providing an intimate look at a woman's ascent to influence and leadership in academia.