Add A Song of Joy by Lauraine Snelling to Your Reading List

...from the publisher...
In Minnesota in 1911, Nilda Carlson is torn between society life in the city of Blackduck and spending time with her family back home on the farm. Her employer, Mrs. Schoenleber, gives her more and more responsibility and experience, including recommending new opportunities for her philanthropy. Still new to America herself, Nilda focuses on the area's immigrant

community, but she'll have to fight to get her ideas accepted by the locals and donors alike.

...my thoughts...
  A Song of Joy by Lauraine Snelling is a delightful story.  Nilda Carlson, an immigrant from Norway, has for some months, worked as personal assistant to the wealthy Mrs. Schoenleber.  She is grateful for all that she has learned and accomplished since being mentored by her generous employer.  She has mastered English is learning the ropes in a large family corporation and fits in whether it is in the boardroom or on the family's farm.  She is remarkably bright and it is her wish to give back so others who are new to the country can have some of the opportunities she has had.  When she shares her ideas to her philanthropic boss, she is met with surprising enthusiasm that eventually leads to a whole community's involvement to help the newcomers. 

I liked this book not just for the good story, but because it reminds me of how many of my ancestors came to America.  Someone came first, checked out the opportunity and sent tickets home for others to follow either one by one or in a group.  Some traveled by steerage and once they got to Minnesota, they settled together and worked hard.  My father's family spoke mostly German at home.  He went to school until the eighth grade, like Nilda's nephews did in A Song of Joy.  I admire how hard these immigrants worked the land or in other industries to support their families while building a new life in our country.  Their resilience, similar to the Carlson family, is what settled the midwest, and eventually, the western states.  I wasn't aware this was the fourth book in the Under the Northern Skies series but A Song of Joy can be read as a standalone.  I recommend this book as the story is engaging with good old fashioned characters!