The Amish Teacher's Gift by Rachel J. Good

Rachel J. Good is a fairly new author to me, but every book I have read has made me want to read more.
Her newest release The Amish Teacher's Gift is one of those unique Amish books that I love to read. This story, centered around real life struggles and situations along with its characters just drew me in. I found it very hard to put down. This story of loss, forgiveness, learning to trust God and his plan through all your struggles, and unconditional love had me hating to see this book end. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, but was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts are my honest opinion.

Amish School Teacher’s Gift Review

Where do I even start, this book was amazing from top to bottom! I love reading religious books, particularly those that focus on the Amish community because it’s such a stark contrast from the way I live as a modern-day Christian.
I enjoyed the various interspersings of Deitch words, but I wish the context of the sentence would have made the meaning more clear. I gather that huchmut is bad, but is does it mean “forbidden”, “frowned upon”, “illegal”, etc?
I love the scene when Josiah stands up for his faith with the boss of his company. It’s very difficult to be the odd one out and he wasn’t afraid to do the things his faith required of him

The Christmas play...tearjerker! I felt like I was right in the scene with the parents watching their deaf son or autistic daughter tell the story of Jesus through sign. And then the bit at the end with Nathan...my heart swelled. I felt as though I myself had witnessed his breakthrough. I also liked the following scene when they give Ada a gift in her classroom.

Overall, the author has a great handle on the emotions of her readers and characters. It’s difficult to write in a way that the reader feels like they’re a face in a crowd and not a peeping Tom. Rachel knocked this out of the park! I can’t wait for more work from her.

I was very impressed with this new-to-me author. I really enjoyed The Amish Teacher’s Gift and will definitely read more books written by Rachel J. Good.

The characters in this story really pulled at my heart. Whether it was Josiah and his inability to communicate with his deaf son, Nathan, or Ada trying to do her best to help her special needs students, I was totally connected to these characters. The communication issues between Nathan and Josiah, along with the tantrums, created many tense situations that had to be overcome.

I also loved the chemisty between Josiah and Ada, but a relationship developing between them wasn’t a simple situation. They had plenty of miscommunications themselves, as well as much judgement to overcome from the community.

I enjoyed this novel so much and look forward to the next in the series.

(4.5 stars)

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.