The relatively relaxed Plain community of Promise Glen features in a seasonal offering from Marta Perry. THE SECOND CHRISTMAS is a great story for younger women who need some confidence as they learn about the wide world.

Leah Beiler spent a year staying with an aunt, Miriam, learning how to run a garden shop with herbal products. Now returned to Promise Glen, she’s annoyed that her Daat went ahead and brought on their neighbor Josiah Burkhalter to do the carpentry work required to prepare a shop on family land. As the holiday season approaches, Leah needs to work with Josiah and get over her huffiness that he left her to court another girl. For his part, Josiah long since figured out that he should have stayed with Leah, and now tries to make it up to her.

Second Christmas, December 26th, is a day when the Amish are relaxing with family and friends, so all the preparations and presents are made ahead of Christmas Day. I so much enjoyed reading about the homemade presents everyone, young and old, put together. The ethos that a crafted gift is worth the labour and love that goes into it, not the money another person might spend on their gifts, is an important reminder. From a quilt to furniture, a lavender sachet, or preserves, the size of the gift suits the age of the giver.

Teenaged readers will do especially well, as Leah is required to use her newfound lessons about the broader world to encourage her younger sister Becky to Just Say No. The Amish are quiet-living, but that does not mean they should be bullied or pressured, and even Leah finds that a problem shared is a problem halved. Some Amish romances lean more on prayer, but with a house full of family, each character can find all the help they need by talking to the people around them who genuinely love them. THE SECOND CHRISTMAS is a vibrant, happy novel, future-oriented and caring. I recommend giving this romance to any teen girl, but don’t blame me if she starts using terms like ferhoodled. They’re catching.  

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