The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall

August 14, 2013 by Christina

Fiction — print. WaterBrook Press, 2012. 193 pgs. Library copy. Following further strain on her contentious relationship with her mother, Annie Martin, an Old Order Mennonite woman, is sent to live with her grandfather, Daadi Moses, in Apple Ridge, Pennsylvania. Normally her visits with Daadi Moses are spent caring for her elderly grandfather and this time she finds herself at lost for what she can do. In an attempt to be helpful, she volunteers to help at the Zook family’s […]

Categories: 2013 Reads, Amish, Fiction, North America, United States • Tags: Cindy Woodsmall

The Bridge of Peace by Cindy Woodsmall

April 5, 2011 by Christina

Fiction — print. Waterbrook Press, 2010. 342 pgs. Received from PaperBackSwap. The second book in Woodsmall’s Ada’s House series follows Lena Kauffman, a twenty-something Old Order Amish schoolteacher with a noticeable birthmark on her cheek. Lena struggles to move past the stares and whispers and instead focuses on being the best teacher she possibly can be. However, her lack of submission and use of ideas that do not line up with the Old Order Ways causes the school board to […]

Categories: 2011 Reads, Amish, Fiction, North America, United States • Tags: Cindy Woodsmall

The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Cindy Woodsmall

May 15, 2010 by Christina

Fiction — print. WaterBrook Press, 2009. 195 pgs. Library copy. Elizabeth “Beth” Hertzler’s fiance died tragically over a year ago but even though her prescribed period of mourning is over, Beth refuses to wear anything other than her black mourning clothes. Her Aunt Elizabeth “Lizzy” Hertzler, an old maid in their Amish community, fears that Beth will wind up alone like her and sets out to help her beloved niece find someone to love. The opportunity presents itself in the […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Amish, Fiction, North America, United States • Tags: Cindy Woodsmall

The Hope of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall

May 1, 2010 by Christina

Fiction — print. Waterbrook, 2009. 336 pgs. Purchased. Twenty years ago, Cara Moore’s father left her sitting on a bench at a train station after her mother died in a car accident waiting for a mysterious Emma Riehl to come pick her up. Emma never arrived, and young Cara was placed in the foster care system. Now on the run from a dangerous man she meet while in foster care, Cara uses her last one hundred dollars to get her […]

Categories: 2010 Reads, Amish, Fiction, North America, United States • Tags: Cindy Woodsmall

When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall

June 11, 2009 by Christina

When the Soul Mends, the third and final book in Woodsmall’s Sisters of the Quilt series, picks up right at the end of When the Morning Comes with Hannah speeding off to Owl’s Perch, the Amish community she left two and a half years ago. (Has it really been that long?)  Her relationship with her family, especially her father and sister, along with her feelings towards ex-fiance, Paul, are in tatters, but Hannah can’t ignore her sister’s desperate pleas for […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Amish, Fiction, North America, United States • Tags: Cindy Woodsmall

When the Morning Comes by Cindy Woodsmall

May 27, 2009 by Christina

Shunned by her family and community, Hannah Lapp flees the Old Order Amish community in hopes of finding refuge with her shunned aunt in Ohio. As the train pulls Hannah further and further from her home, her ex-fiance is filled with regret over his treatment of Hannah and becomes determined to find her, but Hannah’s father remains convinced of her sinful behavior and refuses to corroborate with efforts to find her. The only reason why I didn’t enjoy When the […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Amish, Fiction, North America, United States • Tags: Cindy Woodsmall

When the Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall

May 26, 2009 by Christina

After I read one bad Beverly Lewis book after another, I promptly shelved any plans to read Woodsmall’s popular Amish series, Sisters of the Quilt. Then this morning as I was running around my room attempting to find a book to read during these last few days of senior year, I grabbed the first one my hand landed on and was apprehensive as I opened the book up during first period. I shouldn’t have been, and I shouldn’t have avoided […]

Categories: 2009 Reads, Amish, Fiction, North America, United States • Tags: Cindy Woodsmall