What a Pair!

May 21, 2012
Novelist Brunstetter, who specializes in Amish fiction, kicks off a series for younger readers. The two Millers of the title are soon-to-be nine-year-old twins, part of a large Amish family in Holmes County, Ohio. They play, bicker a bit, eat often, go to school, regularly get in very minor trouble (for example, Mark falls off the roof of the chicken coop into animal manure and Mattie loses track of her baby sister). When the twins, whose temperaments are very different, get a bicycle built for two for their ninth birthday, they also learn about working together. It’s very safe and edifying, even instructive, given the glossary and brief introduction to the Amish culture in the book’s front matter. Compared to much other middle-grade fiction, though, it’s slow-moving. Ages 8–12.