Mary Ann Kinsinger, who was raised
as Old Order Amish, and Suzanne Woods Fisher, who has authored several novels
about the Amish, have teamed up to create a new series of books depicting Amish
life, called The Adventures of Lily Lapp.
The stories highlight the life of
the title character, Lily Lapp. Lily is five years old at the start of the
first book, Life with Lily. Lily learns a lot about friendship, going to
school, obeying her parents, coping with a new baby brother, among other
things. The book is made up of many chapters; each one is basically a short
story, or short vignette, about things that happen in Lily’s life. At the end
of the book, Lily and her family are ready to move into their new home.
Thus begins book number two of the series, A New Home for Lily, when Lily is six years old. She has to make many adjustments in her new home: new house, new school, new friends. Again, this second book is made up of many short-story-like chapters, written in the same style as the first book.
What I
Like: I like the authenticity of the writing in regards to the Amish life. If
you’re curious as to how the Amish really live, this is a good series to read,
even though the stories are told from the perspective of a young child.
What I
Dislike: Although I enjoyed reading the stories, I found a couple of typos in
the text and some places where the writing could have been improved with a bit
of editing.
Also, in
the first book, there is mention of a “Pow Wow doctor,” but that term is never
really explained in the text.
Overall
Rating: Good.
Age
Appeal: I’m not sure about the age group. The stories are written from a young
child’s perspective, so they probably wouldn’t be of much interest to older
children as children tend to prefer stories about other children who are the
same age, or a bit older, than themselves. The stories (chapters) are short
enough to hold the interest of a young reader, but the books are rather long,
over 250 pages for each one, making them unsuitable for young readers.
Publisher Info for Life with Lily: Revell, 2012; ISBN: 9780800721329;
Paperback, 288 pages, $12.99.
Publisher Info for A New Home for Lily: Revell Books, 2013; ISBN: 9780800721336;
Paperback, 266 Pages, $12.99.
Or buy A New Home for Lily at Amazon.com $11.10.
Special
Info: Read our reviews of other books by Suzanne Woods Fisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment