Running Around (and Such) - Linda Byler

Summary from Good Reads: A romance novel by an Amish writer, based on true experiences!

It isn't that Lizzie doesn't want to stay Amish. It's just that there is so much to figure out.  Like why can't she let her hair a little looser on top?  And why can't she wear shoes with a little bit more of a heel?

And will she ever really just know for a fact who she is going to marry like her next-older sister, Emma, does?  And how does it happen that her just-younger sister, Mandy, is going on a date before Lizzie ever has a real one?  So does it matter at all if she eats one more whoopie pie? Amos seems to like her a lot when she pounds out the ping-pong games. He even asks her to be his partner in doubles. But then he asks Ruthie if he can take her home!  It has been this way Lizzie's whole life.

She has too hot a temper. She hates housework and dislikes babies. She loves driving fast horses but is petrified of going away from home for a week to work as a maud (maid).  Now that Lizzie is running around, will she scare off the Amish boys with her hi-jinks manners?  She has certainly attracted the attention of the egg-truck driver. A scary thrill runs through her every time the worldly man comes to pick up an order, each time extending his stay a little longer. How long will she keep this a secret from Emma-and from Mamm and Datt?  What will become of Lizzie? Is she too spirited, too innocent, and almost too uninhibited for a young Amish woman?  Told with disarming humor!

Lizzie is the second of six children in an Amish family.  Her older sister, Emma, is the perfect Amish child.  She loves to cook, clean, sew and do anything domestic that Mam wishes.  Lizzie longs for "fancy" things such as high heel shoes and shorter dresses with ruffles.  She is always feeling that Emma is her parent's favorite.  She is a typical teenager dealing with her appearance and her weight while her sisters do not.  Once Lizzie turns 16, she starts going to Sunday signings with Emma and meeting new friends and boys.

I really enjoyed this book!  It is juvenille fiction instead of adult fiction but it was still fun to read.  I found it to be easy to read and it went by very quickly for me.  It reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie books which I loved as a child.  I enjoyed more details of everyday Amish living from an author who is Amish herself.  I am looking forward to starting When Strawberries Bloom tonight.  I am hoping that this book gets more into Lizzie and her "boy problems."

A special thanks to FSB Media and Good Books Publishing for allowing me to review this book for them.