SummerHill Secrets : Volume 2

I really enjoyed the rest of this series! The first volume is my favorite but this one was still enjoyable.<3

The first one was good, this one fell flat on its face and further. I had to force myself to finish it. <br />First of all, I was very disappointed to see that Mrs. Lewis had run even further into the ridiculously impossible with her "normal" teenager. Merry does not live a normal life. She can't get past a school year or summer vacation without running into a myriad of problems that receive interesting and varied action from Merry and her pack of friends. <br />I was really angry that Levi didn't get Merry. He was ten times more interesting than Jon. <br />Practically all these stories were fake and contrived. I especially thought that whole thing with their neighbor's "mysterious" computer room and the tacky and utterly ludicrous falling-through-the-ice-and-forgetting-only-about-the-boys-she-was-puzzling-over episodes were very stupid. For pete's sake, if you can't come up with a better way to solve a boy problem than temporary forgetfulness, I think you need to take a break and refresh your mind. <br />Also, what in the world did both those boys see in Merry? She's nothing fantastic. In fact, she's really dull and quirky. <br />Another thing that really frustrated me was the fact that they brought that whole grief issue over Faithie back into this book. I thought that had been resolved in book no. 1. She did take that picture of her tears on the gravestone and gave up her grief in "Whispers Down the Lane", didn't she? So why put us all through that again? I didn't care about Faithie. I had never been introduced to her personally, so when she wallows so much in grief, I just roll my eyes and scan the page for the point when she stops.<br />The whole alliteration thing got me too. It's so tacky! <br />Enough said. I'm just glad there isn't a third one.

This series of books was like riding a roller coaster. Sometimes the cart would take me up and above all so I could see everything that was happening, and then it took me down into a tunnel, and I became completely oblivious of the things around me. A part in this book made me want to cry and smash something, becuase it was so frustrating and I knew what was supposed to go on and the main character didn't have a clue-but she made an incredible turn around and I became content again. Merry Hanson goes through many challenges throughout these books, all coming together for a peaceful ending, one that I thought could be better, but was meaningful in a way, considering all that Merry had been through. And, like the roller coaster, it looped around and gave me butterflies, then came in to a sudden halt and it was over. And what good is a roller coaster if you don't go on it again and again?

First things first I was so hoping Merry would've chosen Levi! He was a great loyal friend for many years and Merry had also grown to love him in a romantic fashion. Whereas Jon dated Merry's friends frist which made it seem like Merry was nonexisitent to him. Overall I absolutely love this book. It was a page turner for sure. I loved Merry's character she was genuine selfless sensitve caring and a lover of Jesus. The amish neighbors, the Zook's and the englishers the hanson's both had an unbelievably cozy warm loving safe home environment. Although they had differences in their religious practice, the most common thread that they both shared was Jesus Christ. He was the core foundation in both households which in turn definitely help them whether through any storms of life that came thier way. Jesus brings unity as he did on summerhill lane.

The stories in the book are mostly Christianity moral lessons.<br />At some parts, I felt like the author was being biased. You know, wearing a short skirt and a thick make-up doesn't make someone lousy or bad. It was a cliché thing to do to make readers feel oooh that character's amoral. *poker face*<br />And no constancy in characterization. <br />Levi's character was like this:<br />rough, straightforward, naive, flirty.<br />and he goes on a trip and returns and turns out to be like this:<br />educated, gentle, nerdy, know-it-all.<br />and that just happened. He goes on a trip and returns *tadaaa* a completely different person.

I enjoyed this Young Adult series. The adventures of Merry Hanson, English girl and neighbor and friend to an Amish family, were very tame. But also very sweet. Merry’s faith in God grows throughout the series. I would recommend this book to perhaps a middle school girl.

Enjoyed. Wish there was more in the short stories. They wrap up quickly

This novel is set in the eyes of a adolescent teenager as she begins to realize that not everything is always as it seems. This novel shows that even people, the one's that you trust, can betray you and there is nothing that you can do about the decisions that they make for themselves. Very moving and inspiring, makes me glad that I didn't face what she has had to deal with when I was her age.

I’d like an actual ending please

I hated the ending Levi should have ended up with merry in my opinion.