"Mandie and The Graduation Mystery" by Lois Gladys Leppard

About this book:

  “Mandie and Celia will soon graduate from the Misses Heathwood’s School for Girls, but mysteries continue to distract them. Can they find solutions in time? But the biggest question for Mandie and all her friends is, What adventure comes next?”


Series: Book #40 in “Mandie” series. (To read the reviews of the previous books in this series, click the number to be taken to that review: #1! #2! #3! #4! #5! #6! #7! #8! #9! #10! #11! #12! #13! #14! #15! #16! #17! #18! #19! #20! #21! #22! #23! #24! #25! #26! #27! #28! #29! #30! #31! #32! #33! #34! #35! #36! #37! #38! And #39!) {There also is the “Young Mandie Mystery” series, (Book #1 review Here and Book #2 review Here!) but they do not connect together well.}


Spiritual Content- Proverbs 22:6 at the beginning; A Scripture is quoted & prayed; Prayers; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Church going; Set around Christmas time (but only a couple mentions of what the holiday is about); Uncle Ned referrers to Heaven as the “happy hunting ground”; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, ministers, & services; Mentions of Christmas & a play; A mention of being blessed.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘shut up’, two ‘dumb’s, and four ‘shucks’; Mentions of a fire & injuries; Mentions of a rude girl’s actions; A couple mentions of jealousy.

Sexual Content- Mentions of Mandie & Joe (possibly) marrying when they’re older; A few mentions of who-likes-who & crushes.

-Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, age 15/16
                                P.O.V. of Mandie

                                    Set in 1904-1905
                               156 pages (also available in a collection with three other Mandie books)

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This book didn’t have a sad plot, but it was sad because it’s the last technical book in the much-loved Mandie series. While we still have the first and only college year book to review, the official Mandie series is complete and it’s bittersweet. Seeing nearly the entire friend group of Mandie’s was neat and fun to see them off for a last hurrah before college starts for Mandie and Celia. Mandie and Joe will forever be a ship that gets shipped before a girl knows what shipping is and seeing just a touch more of them together in this book bumped up my rating.

See y’all on Monday 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.

"The Redemption of Sarah Cain" by Beverly Lewis

About this book:

  “A thoroughly modern woman, Sarah Cain had ridiculed her sister's choice of a Plain life-style, which served only to intensify the lifelong rift between them. Now, twelve years later, Sarah is stunned by news of her sister's death and baffled by Ivy's choice of a guardian. How can Sarah sacrifice her successful career and her life in Portland to raise five Amish orphans? And what of Bryan Ford, the man who loves her?

Upon her arrival in Lancaster County, Sarah holds a grief all her own--one very different from the suffering of her nieces and nephews. Can the sorrow that divides them ultimately unite them as a family? Will Sarah discover that Lancaster County's Amish community is not only a simpler place, but also a healing place?”


Series: No, but there is a movie based on this book with the same name.


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, read, & quoted; Prayers & Blessings over food; Sarah is witnessed to; Talks about God & peace; Most ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Some characters have strong faiths; Sarah gets offended at mentions of God and religion, *Spoiler* But near the end cries out to God *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of God; Many mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of talking to God; Mentions of finding God; Mentions of Bible reading & those in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, preaching, & sermons; Mentions of Heaven; Mentions of sins;

             *Note: A mention of Gandhi; A mention of a shrine.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘dumb’ and a form of ‘stupid’; Sarah mentions going to a club; Remembering lots of sister bickering; Mentions of a little girl’s death (up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of a farm accident & death (up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of a dead horse (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of drinking, alcohol, & a bar; A mention of tattoos & piercings; A mention of a possible cuss word.

Sexual Content- a forehead kiss & two semi-detailed kisses; Remembering a kiss (up to semi-detailed); Noticing, Closeness, & Embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of the old Amish courting custom called bundling (where the boy would be invited to the girl’s bedroom, and fully clothed they would spend times with her on the bed); Mentions of young people not engaging in sexual intimacy (before marriage) & instructions to stay pure for marriage; Mentions of being caught kissing; Mentions of flirting & charmers; Mentions of boyfriends, dating, courting, & getting married young; A few mentions of unmarried couples living together; Love, being in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: A mention of lingerie.

-Sarah Cain, age 28

-Lydia Cottrell, age 16
      P.O.V. switches between them (with the Prologue & Epilogue in Lydia’s 1^st person POV)
                                                        313 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This seemed very different from the past Beverly Lewis Amish books I’ve read. I personally thought that since this was an older book of hers that her writing has improved tremendously since this book was published. The typical reader probably will not like Sarah Cain for the first 150 pages or so because she comes across as selfish and materialistic…we do get to see her character development though! It’s been a long while since I saw the movie version of this book, so I don’t remember about differences or such. I liked the ending of this novel, though, it did seem a bit quick; the epilogue was great and my favorite part. ;)

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.