For all the women who wonder what they can accomplish in their lifetimes, the answer is clear: anything they set out to do. Nelda LaTeef has written a book that rises above the great debate about women and work of this past century and looks for meaning and guidance for women and men alike as we embark on this next century. Where better to search for answers than through those who have cleared the way, climbed to the top, and are now willing to look back and tell us how they did it and if it was worth it. Through personal interviews with over fifty high achieving women from all walks of life, LaTeef breaks down myths and shares the realities. In her searching and questioning, she discovers that these women share much more than gender, despite their diverse ethnic, educational, social, and economic backgrounds. Hear these women speak with passion and exuberance about the pathways they took, the choices they made, and the influences from their pasts, for it is their lives which will give birth to the promise of the future—not just for women, but for all of us.

                                                                                                                                                   The Midwest Book Review, James Cox

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    Although this book is marketed and targeted towards a female audience, anyone would benefit from reading WORKING WOMEN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. In short, pungent, even acerbic interviews 50 successful human beings tell what it is like to be successful, how they got their act out on the road, what’s important to them as individuals and what kind of nonsense they have to put up with because of gender issues. What comes through in almost every interview is the fact that each of these people put in long hours, have to stay focused to get everything done in their busy lives, constantly evaluate what’s important to themselves, and make sure that they live life to the fullest. Each interview is a study in accomplishment; these people don’t talk about it, they do it. Each interview is a study in balancing a career and family and making the best of two separate worlds. Each interview is also a study of individuals who have planned their lives so that their futures are dictated by purpose, not accident. These interviews are also about people who won’t put up with any nonsense, from men or women, and good for them. Maria Shriver is here and Chris Evert, Elizabeth Dole, Sandra Day O’Connor, Cathy Guisewite and numerous other achievers, including mayors, architects, teachers, artists, pilots, and senators. This is motivational reading at its very best, a book to challenge any reader of any age. Recommended.

                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                  The Coast Book Review, Al Ralston

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    High achievers always compel and fascinate us. Many readers will enjoy browsing through this collection of short (averaging four-to-six-pages) biographies/interviews of 50 women chosen as role models for different careers. It also might be effective as a general source of inspiration for women pondering career choices, as a resource for classroom assignments on women and careers, and as an exploration of different viewpoints on gender-related work issues, such as work-family conflicts and sex discrimination.  For high school, undergraduate, and public libraries.

                                                                                                                                                 Library Journal, Carol Lewis Watwood