Cool Women, Hot Jobs...: And How You Can Go for It, Too!

Each of these one hundred-plus thumbnail career interviews subdivides into Job Description, A Day On the Job, Job Likes, Job Challenges, Steps to Current Job, Advice, Helpful Personality Traits, and Hobbies and Interests. The lists, abstract statements, an occasional Web site, and general advice that the divisions contain, however, fail to keep the reader's interest, adequately explain the profession, or provide "how-to" for finding another firestarter career. The women are the authors' relatives, friends, and acquaintances, mainly from the Carolina area. In contrast, Cool Women, Hot Jobs (Free Spirit, 2002/VOYA August 2002) gives an in-depth description of twenty jobs with individual bibliographies, has a wide geographical range, provides print and non-print sources for further investigation, and explains how a girl can pursue her own hot job through mental preparation, journaling, and goal setting. The three-page veterinarian profile here, for example, talks generally about loving science and animals, dealing with owners, and studying hard. But Cool Women, Hot Jobs spotlights Dr. Lucy Spelman, the Zoo Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park, who illustrates her passion for preserving endangered species with a story about Giant Pandas. This volume lacks a clear organizational plan such as clustering to emphasize overlaps of skills or requirements. The cover and title will draw girls to the book, but the text's generalities and the "here's another job" organization do not have the punch to hold them.