Book Review: A Surprise for Lily

A Surprise for Lily (The Adventures of Lily Lapp #4) Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher. 2013. Revell. 272 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: All morning, Lily hurried to pull weeds in the garden.

A Surprise for Lily is the fourth and final book in the series by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher. I knew going into it that it was the last--but it was still sad to come to the end.
Lily Lapp has matured so much since the first book. Now she's in fifth grade and experiencing the highs and lows of growing up. She's still struggling with a few of her classmates; but she's doing it with a certain amount of grace and dignity. Most of the time.

It is just a treat to spend time with the whole Lapp-Miller family. I love them all. I even love to "hate" a few of the characters. (Think Nellie Oleson.)

I think it would be awesome if the authors decided to write a young adult or even adult series starring an older Lily. Just enough time has passed--in the real world--for Lily to mature into a young woman who might just be interested in boys and courting and marriage and settling down. Would Aaron Yoder still be a PEST and NUISANCE? Part of me really wants these two to get together.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: A Big Year for Lily

A Big Year for Lily (The Adventures of Lily Lapp #3) Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher. 2013. Revell. 267 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Lily's toes felt tingly.

This is the third book in this contemporary Amish middle grade series. When the series first started Lily was oh-so-precious and just six years old. In this one she turns ten years old. She's matured so much since that first book. Which is both good and bad. Good because maturity is to be expected and appreciated. One can't stay frozen in time. It's impossible. Bad because I miss the Lily-that-was. The little-Lily made me laugh time and time again.

Lily at home. Lily at school. Lily at church. That's what we get to see in this newest book. Lily continues to struggle to "get along" with her two archenemies--Effie and Aaron. Lily has a VERY HARD time understanding why her cousin Hannah thinks Aaron is oh-so-dreamy.

I am still loving the series. I am. I am a little sad that there's just one more book in the series. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Life With Lily

Life with Lily (The Adventures of Lily Lapp #1) Mary Ann Kissinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher. 2012. Revell. 280 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: It was still dark outside. Lily tried to keep up with Papa's long strides as he carried little Joseph across the yard to where the horse and buggy were tied to the hitching post.

Life with Lily is a middle grade novel set in the Amish community in modern times. It is not a historical novel, though it may remind readers--particularly adult readers--of historical novels that have achieved classic status.

It covers a year--give or take a month or two--in the life of Lily, our heroine. (I believe she's six.) She is the oldest of three children.  She has two younger brothers: Joseph and Daniel. Daniel is just a wee little thing--in fact when the novel opens he's getting ready to make his entrance into the world.

Readers see Lily at home with her immediate family, visiting her family that lives close (her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins), attending church meetings, going to school, visiting neighbors (she delivers milk and eggs).

Lily is a curious child--and observant.

Though Lily may have her moments when she seems more like Mary than Laura, she is not a perfect child by any means. She struggles with temptations and sometimes disobeys her parents.

The book definitely reminds me of Little House in the Big Woods or even All-of-a-Kind Family. There is something wholesome about it. But not in a bad way. That almost seems silly to say--that if you call a book wholesome it carries negative connotations. Like if a book is wholesome then it must not be enjoyable. Or if a book is wholesome then it must be preachy. Or if a book is wholesome then it must not be relatable.

I definitely related to Lily. One of her least favorite things in the whole world is to have her hair brushed. I could also relate to her love of dolls and kittens.

I did not find it preachy. Yes, it is a Christian book. There are teachable moments throughout where Lily observes her parents living out the faith. But it isn't preachy-preachy.

I found it very enjoyable. I loved rereading it. In fact I think I loved it even more the second time around.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: The Road to Paris

The Road to Paris. Nikki Grimes. 2006. 153 pages. [Source: Bought]

From the prologue: Ask Paris if a phone call can be deadly. She'll tell you. She learned the truth of it last night.

From chapter one: The trouble with running away is you know what you're leaving behind, but not what's waiting up ahead. Paris Richmond learned that a year ago when she and her brother Malcolm ran away from a foster home in Queens.

Premise/plot: Malcolm and Paris have spent most of their lives in foster care. Their mother is living, but, unable and/or unwilling to keep them herself. Same with their grandmother. Some homes are okay, but, not really HOME. When they run away, they run to their grandmother. Why did they run in the first place? Child abuse. The grandmother ended up separating them. Malcolm went to a children's home, Paris went to another foster home. But it was the one foster home that felt like HOME. It was also the home where Paris met Jesus.

My thoughts: I've read this one three times now. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I adore Paris' foster family. I love seeing Paris bloom in that home. I love her becoming attached to the other children in the home (one older sister, several brothers). I love witnessing her life at home and school...and church. This one feels so natural, so authentic, so RIGHT. In particular, the narrative and the characterization.

Favorite quotes:

Home was such a funny word. For most kids, home was where your mom and dad lived, where you felt safe, where the bogeyman was merely make-believe. Home was where you knew every square inch of the place by heart, where you could wake up in the middle of the night and know exactly where you were without even opening your eyes. Paris didn't have a place like that. She didn't even have an address she'd lived at long enough to memorize, no single place that felt familiar as all that. Except maybe the city itself. For Paris, home was more a person, and that person was Malcolm. (30)

The next evening, when Paris and David were alone in the dining room setting the table, David said out of the blue, "I used to be afraid of the dark. And of the bogeyman, and of spiders--all sorts of things."
"Really?" said Paris.
"Really."
"What did you do?"
"I started keeping God in my pocket."
"Huh?"
"It's something my mom told me once. To keep God in my pocket."
"I don't understand. How can God fit inside your pocket."
"No, that's not it. It just means to keep God close, you know, like he's right there, in your pocket, close enough to call on, or to talk to. That's what I do when I'm afraid." (41)

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone... Paris sang the words and they became true for her. She wasn't afraid anymore. Not of being beaten, or being locked in a closet. Not of the dark, or of never seeing Malcolm again, or of nobody wanting her. And she wasn't even afraid of sticking out on Easter. Paris could hardly recognize the fearless person she was turning into. Because I know he holds the future... She was learning to keep God in her pocket, and because she had him to talk to, she was beginning to have faith that she'd be all right. (103)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible