Book Review: Surprise for Lily

Change is in the air!
Eleven-year-old Lily Lapp wants her life to stay just the way it is. Instead, it’s constantly changing. New jobs, new schoolmates, and new challenges sure keep life interesting. It seems like the only thing Lily really wants to change—Effie Kauffman’s mischief making—is the one thing that never does. Effie is up to her old tricks, and Lily is her favorite target.

With each chapter in Lily’s life comes another ever-more exciting adventure. But no one could have prepared Lily for the biggest surprise of all! Read an excerpt.

Book Four in the Adventures of Lily Lapp series. Co-written with Mary Kinsinger

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Suzanne Woods Fisher is a bestselling author of Amish fiction and non-fiction, and a columnist for Christian Post and Cooking & Such magazine. The Waiting was a finalist for a 2011 Christy Award. The Choice and The Search have been finalists for Carol Awards. Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World and Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life were both finalists for the ECPA Book of the Year (2010, 2011).

 

Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, who was raised Plain in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. She travels back east a couple of times each year for research. For fun, too.

Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world. She has an underlying belief in her books–you don’t have to “go Amish” to incorporate many of their principles into your life: simplicity, living with less, appreciating nature, forgiving others more readily, trusting in God.

When Suzanne isn’t writing, playing tennis (badly!), or bragging to her friends about her grandbabies (so cute!), she is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To her way of thinking, you just can’t take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone’s underwear in its mouth.

Keep up on Suzanne’s latest news by receiving her e-newsletter, as well as connecting on Facebook, Twitter and her blog!

Learn more about Suzanne HERE

Photo by Sandra Lepley

Kinsinger never intended to become a nationally-known author or a voice of someone who left the Amish culture but the story of her life unfolds like a miracle.

"My husband and I don't regret the life we have chosen," said Kinsinger. "We wouldn't have it any other way."

In a very brave decision, the family left the Amish culture in 2006 and never looked back. While they still speak to their families, leaving the Amish religion separated them from their roots. They are now no longer accepted the same way in the Amish community.

In 2010, the Kinsingers moved back home — leaving Missouri and their community behind and starting over again in Greenville Township — the place where they considered home. They are now members of Oakdale Church in Boynton.

In the midst of changing their lifestyles, Kinsinger started writing a blog. In the midst of leaving the Amish community and moving to Somerset County, the blog no doubt served as a therapeutic tool for Kinsinger's but it also opened up an unexpected door.

"I just felt like writing my memories for my own children and part of my mission was to connect my children to their heritage that they wouldn't know as well not being Amish. Almost instantaneously, people started writing back," she remembers.

 

Suzanne Woods Fisher, an accomplished author who has written numerous books for Baker Publishing Group concerning Amish culture, started reading Kinsinger's blog and became a friend to her.

"She (Fisher) started to ask me questions and our email friendship developed. She directed her editor to my blog and she asked me if I ever considered writing a book. I had never thought about the idea before," said Kinsinger.

It was after that "Life with Lily" was born. The book starts out with Lily, a young Amish girl living in New York. Mary Ann is, of course, Lily, in the fictionalized account based on true events.

Learn more about Mary HERE

MY THOUGHTS
Well, I have read each of the books in this series so far, and Lily never disappoints!  She is still filled with a vivacious attitude which makes every day in the pages of this book a fun one!

These books are so much fun that even though each one is a stand alone read, it's going to be so much more fun to read them all....Lily is a young girl that will capture your children's hearts, a great read for tweens or even a good bed-time story for you to read to younger children.  Don't be surprised if you find yourself falling for Lily's charm as well, this book is easily enjoyed by adults as well. 

There are illustrations throughout the book that show Amish lifestyle which is a wonderful way for children to learn more about their way of life and to connect with Lily.

This book would make a wonderful gift.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for review from Revell, a Division of Baker Publishing.

“Available August 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”