The Shunning (Heritage of Lancaster County/Beverly Lewis, 1)

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Summary: This was a great read...looking forward to the next book!
Review: Katie Lapp has always longed for fancy dresses and forbidden music, but that is sinful to think of, isn't it? ...The mystery begins when she finds a pink satin baby dress in the attic. Whom could it have belonged to and why was it there? I was still drawn to read on. I hope to read the next book in the series soon!

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Summary: No other book is so touching.
Review: I am only a sophmore in high school but I feel as if I can relate to her because I seem to feel as out of place as she did. Maybe I will spread my wings soon to and find my identity.

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Summary: This book was AWSOME!
Review: I read The Shunning about 3 wks ago. It was so good I couldn't put it down. I read it in one day. I liked the honest and simplicity of the story.

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Summary: Best Book I have ever read!
Review: I finishd the Shunning yesterday and today I am going out to buy the next 2 books, The Confession and The Reckoning. The details of the stories are great and so understanding. I live near Lancaster, Pa and so many times I have wondered what life was like to live the Amish ways. I always thought it would be nice to live the simple ways not realizing what those ways really were. I admire the families that can live so strictly and feel so happy. I feel for Katie and the dilema she is going through and I also feel for her parents. They are almost like my friends or family. Thank you Mrs. Lewis.

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Summary: The Greatest Book!!!
Review: This is the greatest book I have ever read. For anybody who has a curiousity about the Amish, this is the book for you. But it was also so compelling that it was a definite page turner. I finished it about an hour ago and will go to get The Confession first thing tommorrow morning. I won't wait for the Book Club to order it!!

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Summary: The "Shunning" was a touching, insightful read!
Review: I have just finished reading "The Shunning" and can't wait to get my hands on "The Confession". At the end of the book, through teary eyes, I wondered what would happen to Katie in the outside world! Would she ever find her dying mother? What about her true love Dan? How could he be alive after all these years and where had he been? Would they meet again? What about Rebecca, Katie's adoptive mother? The book was an outsiders look into the Amish community. I couldn't put it down!

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Summary: Fantastic
Review: This was a fantastic book! I read it in one sitting...as quickly as I could. I then ran out to get "The Confession" . Better reading never existed. A must have book. If you liked any of the "Ellies People" books you will LOVE these.

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Summary: Simply Wonderful!
Review: I just finished reading THE SHUNNING a few hours ago. I loved it!! Beverly Lewis is such a wonderful storyteller (like Mam, I guess.) The way the book is written makes you feel everything Katie does. All of the fear, loneliness, confusion, rebellion... I even cried! I also love the Biblical emphasis. I have not read THE CONFESSION, but I plan to -- very soon! I highly reccomend this book to anyone! Thank you very much, Mrs. Lewis!

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Summary: One of the best books I have read all year!
Review: I read The Shunning about two months ago. I liked it so much, I just had to buy it so that I could let my friends read it. I would(and do!) strongly recommend this book to anyone who has or has not read books about the Amish before. I am reading The Confesion now. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read The Shunning, but I do have to say that I think it would be impossible to only read The Shunning, and not The Confession. I have read about twenty Amish fiction boks, and The Shunning tops them all! Thank you, Mrs. Lewis!!!!!!

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Summary: My first book by Bev Lewis...but definitely not my last!
Review: I am an avid reader and lover of Amish history. These 2 passions drew me to a display containing "The Shunning" when we were traveling and stopped to eat at a little restaurant-gift shop. I just had to get up from my meal and take a look at the book. I was so interested I had to read it. The characters were exciting people, individual in spite of being identical! Katie especially intrigued me! She was so fiesty, so different, opinionated, yet family oriented. How could she expect to be happy at any one place when the whole world called to her? I felt empathy for Katie's Amish parents because having a daughter like her surely was a test in their community! Yet, I felt Katie's pain...her uncertainty...her desires...what part in her longterm future would Mary play? How could Katie endure without Dan, her soul mate? How could she marry a man she did not love? Why must she be forced to live without the beautiful, soothing music she adored? Was it sin, or simply protocol? It was easy to keep switching my loyalty from one group to the other...they all had some good ideas. I thought I understood Katie and her inquisitive nature, yet I wanted to scold her for being ungrateful and even spiteful to her parents at times. I seemed to have love-hate for one person, then another! I think this author, Bev Lewis, surely must have an interesting life....how else could she think of so many wonderfully surprising events? For a book that led one to think it was going to be about a fairly dull family, living in a fairly dull town, with fairly dull ideals, there certainly was a trememdous amount of excitement nontheless! People DID have feelings, they DID experience emotions, and Katie Lapp was determined to live them in addition to just feeling them! There are issues here that are presented so well, love and marriage, family life, faith, obedience to parents, loyalty, adoption, trust, life and death, grief and mourning, traditions, ways of life...and all of these are wrapped around one tiny, pink satin baby gown! When I saw I was on the last page, I was stricken....NO, THIS CANNOT BE ENDING...there is so much I do not know yet! What will happen to..what if...when will...why didn't....maybe they...if only.... I did not rest a moment until book number 2 was in my hands! I so fully appreciate the author's portrayal of the love of God, His plan of salvation and especially the individuality of each person in spite of their surroundings! Thanks, Bev!