Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

This topic has 9 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 8 months ago by swtonscrappn.

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

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July 17, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Scherger5
Participant
My sister-in-law gave me five Beverly Lewis books, from the “Abram’s Daughters” series, for my 13 year old daughter to read at leisure. She really enjoyed Jeanette Oke’s Love Comes Softly series and I am wondering if these will be along those lines. Basically I am wondering if these books will be appropriate for her, or are there adult themes that I should be aware of? Any help would be much appreciated
~Heather
July 17, 2010 at 10:06 pm
nerakr
Participant
I’m not familiar with the Abram’s Daughters series, but I have read a lot of Beverly Lewis’ other series. They all deal with the Amish culture in one way or another. The only series of hers that I can remember having an adult theme is her latest, Seasons of Grace, but I could be mistaken. If you’re concerned, you could pre-read the first one. Any adult themes will be revealed there.
HTH,
Karen
July 18, 2010 at 12:18 pm
hdc
Participant
I just finished this series and I would not allow my 13 year old to read them. In the first book, The Covenant, one daughter conceives out of wedlock. There is a lot of focus on the girls’ season of rumpshringe, when they are allowed to explore outside of their community. Beverley Lewis has books for younger girls. We have one titled, Once Upon a Summer, but I have not read it yet. You may want to check those out. Hope that helps. 🙂
August 23, 2010 at 6:46 am
Sue
Participant
Isn’t Once Upon a Summer a Janetter Oke novel? I read that one, and it would be appropriate for a 13-year old girl, IMHO.
Sue M.
August 23, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Sharity
Member
I love Beverly Lewis! I don’t think I would recommend her adult novels for a young girl though. As someone else mentioned the focus at times is on the characters indiscretions which may not be appropriate. There are a few mild “love scenes”, nothing intense just alluded to, but still not for young girls I don’t think.
Blessings!
Sharity
August 24, 2010 at 1:41 pm
DorisDayFan
Member
Janette Oke has lots of books that would be appropriate for girls her age. I am pretty sure I have read all of them and they are squeaky-clean.
August 24, 2010 at 4:54 pm
CindyS
Participant
I’m going to lovingly throw in my two-cents and suggest that love stories be highly limited for young teens. My experience with my first three daughters has been that they are tempted to sort of ‘live there’ in that romantic world. It can push the age of their heart’s awakening forward to the point that it becomes very difficult to keep the bottle of their affection on the shelf until the proper time. That is where we end up with flirtatiousness and unsanctioned relationships (if this comes to full-bloom). Better, I think, to concentrate their influences on what it looks like for a godly young woman to be in her home, serving her family. Being an older mom, I feel a tendency to wave the warning flag at times, but I never mean to offend.
Blessings,
Cindy
August 24, 2010 at 5:06 pm
houseofchaos
Participant
Cindy, thank you for your post. It encourages me to follow my God-given instincts on this one.
Gaeleen
August 24, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Walshfamilyjwla
Member
I have read all of her books just recently because they were given to me for free and I would say that it isn’t appropriate for a 13 year old. They are clean books but they deal with a lot of complicated issues and not just the romantic aspect that does come up but what I get more concerned with is that most of the stories take place in the Amish girls rumschpringe. This is a time where they court and dabble in the world before they decide whether they want to commit to their heritage. All the girls in every book I have read all gone through some hard decisions that entail sometimes going against their parents wishes, the churches wishes, secrets kept from the parents, it almost makes the children in the stories be autonomous from God, from their family, so I believe it would require some maturity and firm understanding of their beliefs from the reader.
August 30, 2010 at 4:42 am
swtonscrappn
Participant
The children’s series by Lewis is Summerhill Secrets. She also produces the Young Reader Series “For Girls Only”; “Holly’s Heart”; and “The Cul-de-sac Kids” (these are probably for 8-10 year olds);