Amish Celebrations: Four Novellas

Amish Celebrations by Beth Wiseman is a collection of Amish novellas. The Gift of Sisters is the story of Hannah and Rachel, fraternal twins, who will shortly turn sixteen and enter their rumschpringe. The sisters have always been close, but newcomer Abram Stoltzfus comes between them. Hannah, the beautiful and outgoing sister, quickly catches his attention knowing her sister was interested in him. Gideon has been friends with the twins their whole life, but he has fallen in love with Rachel. Does he stand a chance against the charming Abraham? Will the twins let a man come between them? A New Beginning takes us to Paradise, Pennsylvania. Noah will soon be baptized and then marry Rebecca Fisher. He decides to enjoy a last Englisch party before his rumschpringe ends. Noah spends the evening talking with McKenna. Two weeks later, Noah calls off his wedding to Rebecca. Paul Fisher, Rebecca’s brother, has yet to be baptized and has been quietly meeting with McKenna. After seeing McKenna hug Noah, he jumps to conclusions and quits seeing her. What made Noah change his mind? Will there be a happy ending for these two couples? In A Christmas Miracle, young Rachel Marie King sneaks off to visit Santa and his elf at the local toy store to request help for her mother for Christmas. Bruce Hanson, the Santa and Joan, the elf, are touched by the little girl’s request and send a check to the family. Mary King has five children under the age of seven and she is overwhelmed and exhausted. Gabriel, Mary’s husband, does not understand why Mary cannot keep a clean house and take care of the children as well. He is tired of sandwiches and coming home to a disorganized home. Mary visits Bruce to return the check which gives Joan a chance to talk with Mary. Joan feels God is calling her help the worn-out mother and begins visiting her with Bruce tagging along. Bruce has been at odds with God since the loss of his wife but being around the King family is helping him resolve his issues. See how God helps these individuals during the holiday season. The fourth novella, A Perfect Plan was previously published in An Amish Wedding. I enjoyed reading these lovely Amish stories. They are well-written and engaging. My favorite novella was A Christmas Miracle. It is such a sweet, heartwarming story with good characters, special message, humor and a satisfying ending. I like how the Christian values and themes were incorporated into the story. We see the importance of having strong faith, the power of prayer, how God has a plan for our lives, events happen in God’s timing—not ours, the value of helping others and how God is always there for us. Beth Wiseman creates delightful characters. Though each story is short, we get to know them and see them develop. My least favorite story was The Gift of Sisters. I felt the two sisters were too young to become serious about a beau (they are considering marriage). It is realistic with two sisters fighting over a boy, but I thought it was predictable. My rating for Amish Celebrations is 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). Amish Celebrations contains stories that will touch your heart.

Young Amish Love Audiobook Review: This book contains several stories about young people in the Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The first story is about twin sisters who are about to reach their 16th birthdays, which is when the Amish community considers them to be young women of dating and marriage age, not children. Despite the description, this isn't about one young man choosing between the sisters. It is actually more about overcoming naivete When you've lived a very sheltered existence and understanding that blood is thicker than water. This novella actually has several romances, two for one sister and one for the other. The second story is actually about three couples who are a little bit older. Involved in these romances are a brother and sister. In this story, we see young people who are uncomfortable with their present circumstances, whether familial or religious. It almost becomes the story of musical chairs... who will be in and who will be out. I don't doubt that young people in the Amish community question their faith and the tenets of their community, especially before, during, or after their Rumspringa. I felt like the author gave short shrift to the non-Amish couple, nor did she spend enough time on the brother’s decision to not become baptized and leave the community. I had an issue with the narrator. I don't think she pronounced all the Pennsylvania Dutch words correctly. It really annoyed me the way she had the characters say “thank you.” She pronounced it precisely like the animal donkey! From my research, it is pronounced more like “denki” or “danki.” I also think she mispronounced the word for “sister” as well. I received a free copy of the audiobook of this collection, but that did not affect my review.

loved this book