About this book:
“Adventures seem to follow sixteen-year-old Lily Masterson everywhere, especially when she stumbles into a tragic mystery.
* Was her father really ill?
* Why does a tax collector try suddenly to foreclose on the family farm?
* And what should Lily make of Wilbur, who takes a liking to her, but whose interest seems motivated by something other than compassion?
Follow Lily on this gripping adventure, and watch her not only begin to solve the mystery, but make some discoveries about her own strength and determination.”
Series: Book #1 in the unfinished “The Lily Adventures” series. Mentions Mandie from the “Mandie” series by the same author.
Spiritual Content- Matthew 7:7 at the beginning & is later quoted in the story twice; Prayers, Thanking God, & Blessings over food; Talks about God, trusting Him, & Him taking care of us; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Lily is frustrated at the end because it seems like God isn’t helping her with the many challenges and heartbreaks she has faced, but her aunt reminds her that He will take care of her and to give Him time (which Lily thinks about; *Spoilers* At the very end, Lily believe God will help her get her home back again one day and feels like her trust in the Lord is strong again *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of God & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, & church outings; A couple mentions of a missionary; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of God doing miraculous things;
*Note: The phrase “Lawsy mercy” is said once; A comment about others finding a man to be “ugly as homemade sin”; A few mentions of luck & being lucky.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘hush up’; A lie (that ends up becoming true); Being on a ship in a bad storm, concern about a possible ship wreck, a Fire and smoke, Fighting in self-defense, Being attacked and shoved, Being stepped on, Injuries, & Pain (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a horse attack someone & step on the person (to the point there is concern the horse could kill the person, up to semi-detailed); Grief (Lily for both parents, including receiving the news of one parent’s death on-page; up to semi-detailed with her grief and her sister’s grief; Violet starts to wonder if everyone she loves will die and leave her, but others try to reassure her); *Spoilers, but about a death and grief* Halfway through the book when Lily and her sister arrive home, they are told that their father passed away in an accident; Later, Lily is told more details that it was ruled as an accident of a horse trampling him because of all the damage that made him nearly unrecognizable (told to Lily by her aunt who found him; she is also distraught about it all; up to semi-detailed); Lily doesn’t believe a horse killed her father and wants the truth; Her aunt tells her not to make herself sick over it all as it won’t bring her father back, which Lily knows, but doesn’t think she can live the rest of her life without trying to find out what really happened *End of Spoilers*; *Spoilers* Lily is given foreclosure papers about her family’s farm and when it looks like she can’t do anything about losing her home, she is very upset and wishes that it had burned rather than let anyone else live in it; She is incredibly angry and rude to a man who wants to buy the farm, so her aunt reminds her that God will take care of her *End of Spoilers*; Lily is told a woman’s story of her, her fiancé, and kitten getting swept away in a river and the fiancé rescuing her and the kitten, but him not making it and never being found (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths, a near-death, illnesses, accidents, & grief (including for parents, a wife, and a fiancé); Mentions of a man who fell overboard & drowned (a possible murder; Lily sees the man being rescued from the water and the rescuer workers shake their heads, implying the man died; *Spoilers* The man was beaten to death and them thrown into the ocean according to the ship’s doctor and is later confirmed that he was murdered *End of Spoilers*; barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of someone being beat to death & a fight (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a horse attacking & possibly killing people (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of suspicious and possibly dangerous men (which a friend seriously warns Lily about); Mentions of trespassing (sneaking into some’s room without permission) & someone trying to get into Lily and Violet’s room at night; Mentions of a fire & possible arson; Mentions of injuries & pain; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of alcohol & drinking; Mentions of pipes & smoking; A few mentions of jail & an arrest; A couple mentions of wars; A couple mentions of stealing; A mention of tobacco; A mention of a cat that ran away;
*Note: Lily has practically raised her little sister due to their mother’s illness (that made her an “invalid”); Violet says her father told her to never trust someone with “squinty eyes” and repeats it often (implying that the person isn’t trustworthy); A sheriff seems untrustworthy due to not investigating a death properly (which causes people to complain to him and others about it, including Lily);
Sexual Content- A cheek kiss (by someone Lily considers to be a big brother); A bit of hand holding (for comforting); Blushes & Being flustered by a man’s handsome appearance; A bit of noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Lily doesn’t think a young man is “romantically inclined” towards her, but he stays around her often (someone else suggests that he is “smitten speechless” with her, but she doesn’t think so); Shortly after meeting him, Lily realizes she is attracted to him, but still thinks something is not right and wants to find out what it is, so she creates a plan to talk to him sweetly to gain information about him and his intentions (a friend is concerned, but Lily notes that she would not allow the strange man to hold her hand or kiss her); *Spoilers* Towards the end, Lily’s neighbor and friend proposes to her; He is a “good bit older” than her and is a young widow; He says that “[he has] always loved [her] since [she] was little. And then when [she] grew up to be such a beautiful young woman, [he] knew [he] felt a different kind of love for [her]” and that he has realized that he “truly loved [her] as a grown young woman, and not as a child anymore.”; Lily is shocked by this confession and while she’s never been in love, doesn’t think she’s in love with this friend and isn’t sure she could “love him as a wife”; She does not accepted his proposal and he asks her to let him know if she changes her mind (she says she will, but does care for him like a big brother); Lily says she has to be sure that she loves the marry she marries, if she ever marries *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of attraction & interest; Mentions of young men coming “calling” on Lily and her father not allowing it previously (due to her age); A few mentions of handsome men; A couple mentions of kisses;
*Note: When a friend suggests to Lily about her getting married rather than getting a job, Lily says she doesn’t want to be dependent on a man and get married just for the sake of a livelihood (the friend tells her to never get married for that reason because “love must come first” and adds that if a couple doesn’t sincerely love each other, then a marriage would never work out).
-Lily Masterson, age 16
P.O.V. of Lily
Set in 1901
182 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’ve had the only two books published in this series setting on my shelf for years to read. Unlike the author’s incredibly popular “Mandie” series, this series was aimed for YA readers. I didn’t realize this was connected to the Mandie series, though! Lily and her sister, Violet, were previously seen in that classic series which was a nice surprise.
Lily has a decent head on her shoulders and her radar is flagged when a young man on the ship starts paying her extra attention. She doesn’t think it’s in a romantic way, but the man is suspicious so she tries to be friendlier to him to gain information. This could have bordered on deceitful on Lily’s part towards the man, but I personally do not think she was. She had a few moments of being…forceful that did border on being rude or short-tempered, but that was when different men came up to her and started talking like they were old friends—which she was having none of it. Her temper reminded me of Mandie at times.
The second half of this book was quite sad, I will say. It felt heavier than the “Mandie” series with the grief, a possible murder, and the mystery surrounding another death. It looks like that last one will continue for the rest of the series, but because the publishing house was dissolved and the rest of the series wasn’t fully published, I’m not sure there will be a satisfactory conclusion to that element. Which reminds me of the lingering questions I’ll have forever about the “Mandie: Her College Days” series. 😅
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
