Employment Books

Live & Work Abroad is a must have for any person who is currently living abroad, thinking of living abroad or in the process of moving abroad. Simply a MUST HAVE. Our family uses it as a complete reference guide with up-to-date, practical information. As a Modern Nomad I appreciate a complete book that covers so much. It's a first-timers MUST HAVE and an experienced expat's best friend. Buy one for yourself and keep on extra on hand for friends. If you lend your copy out, put your name in big letters, or you might not get it back.

This book was the best book I've ever read. Having based the whole research on questionnaires filled in by foreigners living in other countries, and by being nomads themselves, the authors have very successfully helped others who don't work in their own countries. I believe working and living in a country where you don't live must've extremely difficult, and having to put up with the stress of not being used to the currency or not knowing the language etc. must be equally frustrating. If I ever do live and work abroad I will have this book at my side to guide me.

Live & Work Abroad : A Guide for Modern Nomads is THE single MUST HAVE book for anyone who plans to live or work abroad. Callan and Francis have put together a compendium of ESSENTIAL information and they tell it like it is. Their own extensive experiences in living and working abroad are very evident, even in terms of what they include. Things like how to ship your belongings to your new address; what problems you might encounter in doing so; and what to do about those challenges. This is the kind of tone that informs the whole book -- a down to earth, problem solving, "let's get on with it and deal with the daily things so that we can enjoy the rest of what living aborad has to offer." The book is _filled_ with invaluable contact information and questions that people may think no one has written about-- from dealing with medical problems like severe food allergies to tips for gay/lesbian travellers. These folks really have the goods! The only drawback is that the pages are really jam-packed with smallish font: but, that keeps the book itself back-pack size. Definitely a MUST HAVE... for travellers, and also their possibly skitterish parents!

This book, aptly listed as a guide for modern nomads, is a must-read for anyone going on or living through an expatriate assignment. During my years in International Human Resources I think I read every book written about the expat experience, looking for the one that I could recommend to our staff. I'm pleased to say that this book satisfies my craving, and after twenty-five years, I can stop my quest.

The book covers everything from definitions of words associated with expat assignments to detailed information on how to address various aspects of expat life. The book is presented in easy to read language. At the end of each major segment it lists additional resources on the topic, typically both print and Internet, so may continue to research a topic of particular interest.

The book can is a boon to all expats, from those moving under the auspices of a company that provides assistance in shipping household goods to those who are making all the arrangements on their own. There are some brilliant checklists that guide you through various decision-makings processed such as what to move and how to select a pre-school. Although I read this book over a three-day period, it's best used as a tool that you refer to as you face expat situations. If you only pack one book in your carry-on luggage, this should be it!

I used this book to educate myself more fully before meeting with some folks about diversity and found the book well-written, easy to understand because of great examples, and the information was "real" and up-to-date.

In her wise and insightful new book, Making Diversity Work, Dr. Sondra Thiederman examines the roots of diversity-related dilemmas to reveal how our own biases get in the way of our relationships with people we perceive as different from ourselves. Dr. Thiederman's thought-provoking thesis breaks new ground and elevates diversity discussions by rejecting finger-pointing as a strategy and replacing it with personal responsibility instead. No one is free of bias, but Dr. Thiederman gives us the cognitive and verbal tools to help us move forward to a place where we can respect each other and value our differences. Making Diversity Work is a must-have reference for anyone who wants to improve their personal and professional relationships.

Dr. Thiederman shows that companies pay a big price for allowing bias to flourish in our workplaces, from litigation and costly turnover to diminished profits and lowered standards. She shifts the dialogue from blame and finger pointing to the responsibility we all share in successfully ridding the workplace of discrimination, inequity, and tension. One frequnetly unrecognized aspect of bias she brings to light is what she calls "Guerilla Bias" (nice actions that are really biased but remain hidden from the target as well as perpetrator), and she also rejects the current brand of political correctness.

Finally, she lays out an effective way to recognize and then combat our own personal biases by giving a 7-step process to follow which she calls a "Vision Renewal Process". Very informative, with real life examples of bias that a reader might find familiar but never have recognized before.

Some books are written simply to impart knowledge to others. Other books are written to fulfill a strong personal interest by the author. It is the rare book that is written because there is a deeply genuine need for it. Making Diversity WORK is that rare book that was written for all the reasons above. Author Sondra Thiederman attempts to strip off the "veneer" of diversity that exists in the modern workplace to examine the real reasons why diversity is hard to talk about and even harder to achieve! This book may make you uncomfortable, but maybe that is exactly what we all need to feel in order to achieve a level of diversity that respects and honors all people for what they can contribute.

Early on in this work Sondra Thiederman candidly discusses her own cultural background and how she recognized her own personal biases. The purpose is to show that if we honestly examine ourselves and become mindful of our biases, we can dissect and set those biases aside. After spending 25 years providing practical results to some of the largest international organizations in their quest for diversity, Thiederman is a leading expert on this subject and it is prominently reflected in this book. She also received a doctorate in cross-cultural studies from UCLA.

Making Diversity WORK has three major parts which are embedded in thirteen interesting chapters. Each chapter ends with a conclusion and summary to reinforce their major points. Part one examines the basics of bias including the correct and incorrect definitions of bias, and how it is learned and taught to all of us. It is in this part that you will learn the term Guerilla Bias™ and how it can affect us in subtle ways. The second part of the book is the largest and deals with self-discovery, how our biases can hurt us and how we can strive to overcome them. The third part of the book is about creating healthy dialogue which the author calls gateway events. What are these events? Our workplaces are filled with opportunities to engage in conversations about bias. Typically there is discord in the work environment between people who are different from each other. These incidents are capable of bringing about productive dialogue and serve as gateways to create greater understanding and reduce bias. This final part also outlines some cognitive and verbal skills to generate diversity dialogue.

Diversity isn't just a good thing to do; morally it is the right thing to do. Our modern workplace is more diverse than ever before in recorded human history. Diversity means a greater talent pool, larger markets, and the unfortunate potential for discord in the workplace. Making Diversity WORK is a frank and powerful book that dares to challenge us and prods us to live up to the democratic ideals of fairness, equity and accountability. If you desire to read just one powerful book on this important subject, Making Diversity WORK should be it!

If you interview a lot of job candidates, this book will help you do a better job. It covers major areas of interviewing in a helpful way.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "How to Spot a Liar in a Job Interview" and "How to Spot a Phony Resume" docwifford@msn.com

The labor shortage has spawned a number of books on finding, hiring, and keeping good employees. Each vies to fill a niche, competing with a plethora of other books seeking to address the same issue. This one's different.

This manager's guide really is. It really is addressed to managers, along with all the human resource professional who could also benefit from the power contained within its pages. Rosenberg rightly assumes, in her preface, that most managers are totally unprepared for hiring interviews. Corporate interviewers-at all levels-seem to focus on all the wrong things in interviews, rarely looking at how well the candidate might meet the manager's expectations a year down the road. As a result, we all ask the wrong questions, struggle to make hiring decisions on the basis of inadequate data, and practically make fools of ourselves in the process.

Yes, I was using first-person in that last sentence. Guilty! As I read the introduction to Rosenberg's book, where she introduced her dialog-based instructional system, I saw myself. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Honestly, there wasn't a lot of good. All the errors I made in interviewing began flashing in front of me, confirming that this book definitely belongs on my shelf! Amazing-I was learning a wealth of valuable knowledge . . . in the introduction! (Can I apologize now to all my hiring mistakes over the years?)

Rosenberg teaches that there are three factors that determine an employee's long-term success with an employer: the candidate's ability to learn, the candidate's values, and the candidate's cognitive ability. Rarely do interviewers even approach these vital issues. Too often we hire based on a job description that's obsolete, instead of the capacity to learn, grow, and adjust to our rapidly changing work environment. The key is to determine what the candidate has learned from past experiences, rather than just what was actually done. Do you know the difference between behavioral questions and puzzle questions?

Do you hire people because of something you saw on their resume, expecting them to change? Rosenberg notes that 80% of the candidates we consider live remarkably consistent lives. Their patterns don't change. This book will teach you how to look for those patterns, make sense of them, and equip yourself for much more intelligent hiring decisions. This continual learning went on page after page in this relatively fast-moving book. Another example: use job objectives instead of job descriptions (page 57).

A clear message is that we should engage in a meticulous evaluation, examination, and exploration of the position before speaking to a single candidate. And, then prepare carefully using everything known about the candidate before conducting a structured, focused 40-minute interview.

Rosenberg presents a process she calls the Master Match Matrix. The crux of this approach is preparation, including the right questions to ask. What questions might you ask? Check out Appendix B for ideas-over 800 open-ended questions are waiting for you. This bank of effective questions, well-organized, is worth the cost of the book even without all the valuable explanatory text!

I was impressed that this one volume contains practically anything you ever wanted to know about hiring the right people. The chapters set the stage, then introduce Rosenberg's Master Match Matrix approach. Next, the reader moves deliberately through chapters on structuring interviews, questioning techniques, listening (including body language), more tools and techniques, and even interviewing for personality fit. Yes, there is even a chapter on what's legal and what's not, followed by a concluding chapter on reference checking, liability, and even termination. Three appendices complement the text, giving us common errors to avoid, as well as interview questions and additional information about personality fit.

The book's organization, aided by a good index, make this a valuable reference book to pull off the shelf every time you need to interview another candidate for employment. If you apply the lessons Rosenberg shares, you'll spend a lot less time interviewing in the future-you'll have the right people on board and they'll probably stick around a while.

DeAnne Rosenberg's "A Manager's Guide To Hiring The Best Person For Every Job" is a primer on how to find the best employee for your company in this very tight job market. After you read this book, you'll be totally knowledeable about how to interview a prospective employee.It's amazing how much information is available in the book, and how easy it is to read. Kudos to Rosenberg for making this difficult subject so understandable.

A MANAGER'S GUIDE TO HIRING THE BEST PERSON FOR EVERY JOB is everything you need to know on the subject of interviewing. It is that complete. Not only does it cover the subject thoroughly, it does so in a logical, convincing, and enjoyable format. Each technique is illustrated; each method is fully explained, making them simple to apply to real interviewing situations. From the author's exceptional method for evaluating candidates, through several excellent topics new to books on interviewing, to an expected but particularly well done section on legalities, and ending with a fantastic appendix of interviewing questions, this is a sine qua non resource for the person who wants to interview competently.

The Master Match Matrix, the author's method for evaluating candidates, is the centerpiece of the book. It is an organized, intelligent, repeatable strategy that guarantees its practitioners impeccable results every time it is used. Recognizing that hiring personnel want to spend minimum amounts of time on interviews and yet hire superior if not best persons for their positions, the book first clears away the chaff of traditional interviewing, most of which is irrelevant, unfocused, and inadequate. Using the MMM, however, an interviewer will elicit relevant information from a candidate and thereby match (or not match) the candidate with the responsibilities and expectations of the position.

This book covers valuable topics not discussed in other books on interviewing; for example, deciphering body language cues, word patterns, and candidate behavior in interviews; how candidates avoid difficult questions; how to use silence as a discussion stimulant; what are "dumb" questions but how to recover from asking one; and the prevention of unnecessary turnover by discovering a candidate's long-term goals and synchronizing them with the needs of the job. All of these topics as well as the other topics in the book, from questioning techniques to "selling" the job to a candidate, are not just discussed theoretically, but are specifically illustrated with actual dialogue "how-to" segments.

In the excellent section on legalities and illegalities in interviewing, the author again provides much more specific and comprehensive information than found in other books on the subject. Among other points, the reader can learn how to design a non-compete agreement; a specific technique for quick and painless termination; questions to ask relating to legally restricted topics, how to avoid negligent hiring and the problem of employer liability; and how to obtain solid references.

Preeminently this is a hands-on, practical book. Managers and other hiring personnel reading and using this book will not only improve their interviewing skills but equally important will gain in confidence and willingness to interview. They will hire superior candidates for positions, benefiting them, their companies, and the candidates themselves. A MANAGER'S GUIDE TO HIRING THE BEST PERSON FOR EVERY JOB should be at every manager's hand. Don't interview without it.

Military to Federal Career Guide: Ten Steps to Transforming Your Military Experience into a Competitive Federal Resume is a no-nonsense, practical guide for enlisted and discharged personnel and officers. Chapters discuss veterans' advantages in applying for federal jobs, how to write a basic military federal resume, learning how to analyze federal vacancy announcements, write about one's knowledge/skills/abilities, interview for a federal job, and much more. An accompanying CD-ROM with ready-to-use resume templates and 150 pages of sample resumes rounds out this point-by-point, easy-to-use guide. An utterly invaluable resource for any veteran seeking a solid federal career.

What I really like about this book is the easy-to-follow layout. It is clear and I know how to find an issue area I wish to learn more about. I also feel the content is solid and the examples are as good as it gets for this difficult area to write about. Kathryn takes the mystery out of understanding the Federal process and makes it easier by laying out the issue areas clearly and providing examples for each. She also devotes an appropriate amount of time to the dreaded KSA's and how to cut them down to size and present your background well enough to make it through the maze of the Federal selection processes.

Kathryn also has excellent resources listed and her abundant research on the subject shows in the material that is presented. Like my book, it comes with a CD-ROM that has just excellent color, graphs, charts and indexing. Quite a treat to view. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in working for the Federal Government. It will make the process so much easier to understand and I believe if you follow her advice, you will have a much better chance of consideration for employment in a very crowded arena.

Dear Amazon.com staff;

Congratulations! You outdid yourselves by having Ms. Kathryn Troutman's latest book, "Military to Federal Career Guide," in your resource library.

After serving 24 years in the Marine Corps and ten years as a Career Development Coach for the Department of Defense at Camp Pendleton, CA, home to over 40,000 Marines and Sailors of the 1st Marine Division, I am pleased to praise the name of Ms. Kathryn Troutman for creating a tool that will aid the military person in becoming a Federal employee. The book "Military to Federal Career Guide" is that tool.

Military personnel respond well to organized information and the "Military to Federal Career Guide" is just that, organized! This fantastic book helps military personnel to identify their transferable skills that they possess that will relate to their desired goals as a Federal Government employee.

Ms. Troutman realized that since military personnel use steps and sequences to accomplish their goals, that she must create the path for the military personnel to travel to the government resume and with this book, she has done just that.

I endorse this book so much because I believe that any military person that uses this book from beginning to end, following all of the steps and examples, will have a far greater chance for a job offer from the Federal government than someone that doesn't use the "Military to Federal Career Guide" book.

Semper Fidelis to the staff of Amazon.com for your professionalism.

Fred

As a former Transition Assistance Program workshop facilitator and now as a direct placement recruiter, I have worked with hundreds of transitioning military service members. Not enough vets make use of their hiring advatage in federal government because the process is so involved and can be intimidating.

Troutman's latest book takes her abundant expertise in the federal hiring process and translates it in an easy to use and highly comprehensive workbook for ALL those who are leaving military service and want to explore a federal career.

This book includes basic federal resume construction, an overview of the federal hiring process, how to interpret a federal job posting, electronic versus paper applications, explainations of how to claim Veterans Prefence Points, how to utilize your past experience (no matter what it was!) and how to translate "military-speak" in to federal employment language. There is also a CD-DVD-Rom included that has numerous resume samples. This book is a great supplement to the TAP manual - all the things the TAP manual barely touches on (in regards to federal employment), this book delves in and fully explains.

Additionally, Troutman has done much of the research that normally takes job many frustrating hours searching the web. She includes a resource section which shares various agency websites, how to navigate them and how to apply to each individually.

I recommend this book to those leaving military service, both enlisted and officers alike. It is a valueable resource - a low price investment that will be of great help to military service member making the leap into federal employment. There is no other guidebook out there like this!

Don't wait until your terminal leave to get working on your federal package. The federal hiring process is not the swiftest. As a wise teacher once told me, and I now tell all my students, "Do It Now".

Based on German WWII documents Tom Jentz gives the reader a rare look into the organization and combat tactics of German armoured formations in the 1943-1945 period. The tactics of platoon, company and battalion sized units are told by extensive quotes from wardiaries and battle reports. There are statistics on tank-availability in many individual units as well as numerous TO&Es. The book does not cover every unit in every theater of war, but uses examples to tell the story of small unit tank-combat in WWII. All in all it is 300 pages packed with info not available in any other book on the subject. As the author used many WWII German military terms, a certain familiarity with these could be helpfull to the reader.

This book uses after-action reports, and war diary entries to describe German armored operations. The material has an immediacy that one just can't find in other, excellent, works of the same subject. As an example, if you want to know what crews really thought of the Panther and Tiger, not what post-war technical analyses say, this is the series for you. You can also follow the evolution of tactics as German and Allied tank and anti-tank weapons evolve throughout the war. As a previous review said, this series assumes a certain familiarity with German WWII military terms and ranks-probably not for the general enthusiast.

It would be hard not to repeat what was written before by the previous three reviewers. I think they all hit it right on the money. Tom Jentz followed up his previous volume on this subject by finishing it on to the bitter end of the Third Reich. The book shows the continual development, evolution and usage of the Panzer units as they fought on against greater odds and worsting field positions. New panzers with their inherited problems caused considerable hiccups along the line but overall, the book revealed in all clarity, how the Germans developed their panzer units. Using after action reports and selective units, the author is able to traced the unit structure of several individual units.

There is host of detail information inside this book that will hold a mother lode of happiness to anyone who is interested in this subject matter. However, I must used the word of caution since this book was primary geared for readers who are already well read and well schooled in this subject matter. Any novice readers will definitely find this book bit over their heads. All the charts are all done in German style with a lot of German words inserted here and there. On the other hand, there are host of interesting photographs to look at.

Overall, this book comes highly recommended for anyone who wishes to advance their knowledge on the subject matter as long as its understood that material can get pretty dense if you are not familiar with the subject.

This book, along with volume one which covers pre-war development and early war employment of the Panzer divisions, is an excellent reference. Any information you need about German armored divisions from 1943-1945 is likely here. I can not recommend it highly enough.

Jentz picks up in this volume where he left off in the previous book. He provides a wealth of information on force structures (including how platoons, companies, battalions, staff companies, etc.) were organized. All of this is presented in tables and figures for easy reference. Each reorganizaton is accompanied by the translated order which created the change. As in the first volume, Jentz provides unit strengths, as well as listing tank types, for each division at the start of a new operation (or at the end of one).

Also included are numerous translated after-action reports, which reveal a great deal about German armored tactics and the performance of their tanks in the field. These are fascinating, and are not available anywhere else. One final table in particularly interesting: it presents the number of tanks available to each division at the end of the war. Many panzer "divisions" had only a platoon's worth of tanks left.

The end of the book presents a variety of data in a set of appendices. This includes charts showing monthly data on the on-hand strength of each tank type as well as comparative technical data for German and Allied late-war tanks.

Also strongly recommended is volume I of the set; with both, you have a comprehensive set of information on the Panzer divisions in World War II. I constantly refer to both of them, so much that they are usually out on my desk rather than back on the shelf.

The kitchen table. The laundry room. The corner of the master bedroom.

This is where many Americans tend to locate their home offices, and Marilyn Zelinsky's book, "Practical Home Office Solutions" gives an excellent case as to why this spells disaster and even a better case on how to avoid it.

Written from experience and from the heart, Marilyn takes us on a journey, somewhat personal but extremely factual, that shatters the stereotypical home office. We don't need a home office lifted from the pages of Architectural Digest. That's an unrealistic fantasy. We also don't work from the kitchen table. That's a recipe for failure. What we do need is a personal space that not only inspires us to work, but also enhances productivity and lifestyle while applying the principles of ergonomics. The author gives so many practical tips that any reader's ideal home office is lurking somewhere within the book's pages.

How to buy a chair. Feng Shui for the Home Office. Working with children in the house. How to pull storage out of the air. Which American cities are most conducive to telecommuting. The list goes on.

If you run a business from home, this book is a must. If you telecommute or run a telecommuting program for your company, this book gives you the facts, the figures and the studies necessary to make any corporate program work.

Read it from cover to cover. Leave it on your desk and wander through it, pulling ideas out at random. It has an extensive resource guide and planning sheets to get you going when you are finally ready to make your ideal office happen.

I give this book to some of my clients who are setting up home offices. As a home office design consultant myself, I find it a necessary tool for shattering the home office image the media has created and getting the creative juices flowing.

Most books in this category showcase grand offices filled with beautiful expensive furniture and look like they've never been used. Zelinksy, on the other hand, writes about the challenges that real people face when trying to create a home office in a basement, attic, closet or a cramped corner of a bedroom. I especially liked how the book included loads of advice on how to kid-proof (or spouse-proof) your office, work in a really rural town, work with an assistant in your home, buy an ergonomic chair, find enough storage, and outfit an office on a really tight budget. Definitely worth the price.

We are witnessing the next revolution in the workplace - the transition of work from the office to the home. Zelinsky's book offers practical advise that can help ease the transition of a new telecommuter, or improve the productivity of a seasoned home office worker.

Beyond simply advising on furniture and technology solutions, Practical Home Office Solutions addresses the psychological issues that telecommuters and home-based entrepreneurs deal with on a daily basis.

I would highly recommend for anyone who spends some part of their day working from the home.

I am now planning to work at home so I wanted to read the books on the home office to see where to start. I liked the title, because it includes the word "practical" which is exactly what I was looking for. The book has a no-nonsense approach to planning a home office. I especially appreciated all the comments from regular folk who work at home, all the problems they had and the solutions they found. The book covers how to work at home, how to overcome isolation, how to find inexpensive furniture--I looked up a furniture liquidator in my town as the author suggested, and will buy my desk and chair from there at half the price I expected to pay elsewhere! I didn't even know these stores existed so I'm grateful for the book's advice.

Truly a unique Interviewing and Career Enhancement tool. Walks you through step by step assisting you in organizing past performance,achievements, and future direction. As a hiring manager, an individual who presented this in an interview would truly get noticed.

RMSNSLIP

How can a job hunter build a career portfolio and land a new job based on proving performance levels? Proof Of Performance tells how to handle interview questions which ask for such proof. Employers want proof to support claims of performance; this tells how to build a portfolio which presents just such proof.

I have read this book from cover to cover. There are wisdom-filled ideas to help any age career changer. Don't miss this one! Finally, someone who has been in the trenches is giving advice that can be extremely useful when preparing for the all important interview. Just do it! I am using my Proof of Performance portfolio and it works!! I am much more in control of the process and continue to add to my documented success. The system is not complicated. I love it. You will too.

Rick Nelles' Proof Of Performance: How To Build A Career Portfolio To Land A Great New Job focuses on the job interview process and offers an effective strategy for success. Nelles shows why the job seeker requires a proof of performance portfolio; how attitudes make a world of difference in an interview; what should be a part of every effective portfolio; how to document performance and assemble testimonials; which interview questions to be prepared for; when and how to present the portfolio within the interview process; and how to best close the interview. Proof Of Performance is enthusiastically recommended reading for anyone seeking to secure an upgrade in their employment history and to enhance their career choices and chances for long term success.

In this book we meet up again with Samantha Parkington, who is a nine-year-old girl living in the year 1904 with her wealthy grandmother.

Samantha is delighted to learn that her friend Nellie has returned to town with her two sisters. They will be living a few houses down from Samantha, where they will earn a living as servant girls. They also are allowed to go to a public school.

At school Nellie is teased by her classmates because she doesn't know the lessons. Back in New York Nellie had a job in a factory which forced her not to attend school with her sisters.

Samantha has a wonderful idea. She will teach Nellie her lessons in the attic of her grandmother's house. Over time Nellie's progress gets better and better. Meanwhile, Samantha must write an oral essay about progress in America. Samantha begins to write about all the wonderful factories and cars. She gives the essay to Nellie to read over, but is shocked when Nellie tells Samantha she is wrong. Remember Nellie use to work in a factory.

With Nellie's help, Samantha composes a new essay. But, will this new essay be too harsh for Samantha's grandmother, as well as the hundreds of people she is reading it to? Or, will it be just the right thing?

~~Kat

This is another in the American Girls series about Samantha Parkington, a nine-year-old orphan girl living in the America of 1904. In this book, Samantha is pleased to learn that her good friend Nellie and her family have been hired by a lady who lives a mere two doors away. Even better, Nellie and her two younger sisters are to start attending the local school. But Nellie is behind in her learning, and is relegated to the second grade, where she is teased as being stupid. With a quick thought, Samantha realizes that she can help.

The final chapter of this book contains a highly informative chapter on education in 1904 America. Also, I must say that I did enjoy the wonderful illustrations provided by Nancy Niles and R. Grace.

This is another excellent American Girls book. As with the other Samantha stories, this one shows the seamier side of the "good old days," but presents the story in a lighthearted and uplifting way. My daughter and I both enjoyed the story, and the lessons that it taught. We both recommend this book to you.

Samantha helps Nellie to improve her reading, math and science to help her move up to third grade. Samantha learns about Nellie's life before she moved next door. A great story to read

When I was younger, this was the first book in the American Girls Collection that I read. I decided to read it again at later time and still liked it. In the book, Samantha Parkington is a third grader at Miss Crampton's Academy. She meets up with her friend Nellie O'Malley, and learns that Nellie's employer, Mrs. Van Sicklen, is letting Nellie and her sisters, Bridget and Jenny, go to the public school. But on the first day, Nellie has problems in school. Because she couldn't go to shool while working in the factory, Nellie has never gone to shool before--she's nine years old and in the second grade. Samantha talks to her teacher at Miss Crampton's, and the teacher decides to help Samantha and Nellie out. Every day, after she finishes her chores, Nellie goes to Samantha's house for a tutoring session. Meanwhile, Samantha has to come up with a speech about Progress in America. Samantha prepares a speech on Factories in America--about how they have helped American society. After winning an award at Miss Crampton's, and being told to give her speech at the Mount Bedford Ladies Club, Samantha read her speech to Nellie. It's then that the book really starts to pick up--when Nellie explains that facotries AREN'T the improvement Samantha thought them to be. When the contest finally comes, Samantha changes her speech, and impresses both her friend and her grandmother. This book also takes a good look at the class system during that period in time, by showing the fact that Samantha would not be allowed near Nellie if she weren't helping her. An overall good book in the series, not to mention one of the first.

Candace