This study explores the possibility of the existence of female sex stereotypes in the common career fiction available in junior high school libraries in New Jersey. The process of determining the existence of a stereotype in the characterization of employed people in these books involved two steps. A method was developed for analyzing the speech and actions of the characters in terms of advice, praise, criticism, thought, occupational choice, educational attainment, and nonoccupational activities. The method was then used to record the content of every tenth page of the commonly held fiction. The findings showed that females were most portrayed as engaged in service occupations where nurturant behavior, including instruction of others, was common. Unlike males, they listened more than they spoke, which suggested a passivity among the female characters. Although there was some emphasis on praise for occupational competency, it was less emphasized for females than for males. It is concluded that since the dominant portrayal of the employed female in the commonly available fiction reinforces the traditional stereotypes, there is a need to write additional career fiction that portrays alternatives to these sex roles. (Author/TS)