Book Review: Somewhere to Belong by Judith Miller

I will admit to being hesitant to read this book when I first got it. Something about the whole communal living thing just does not shout "interesting plot" to me. I mean, how interesting can it be when everybody does the same thing? On top of that, it's not only in the first person, it's two people switching back and forth, talking in the first person.

All of that said, despite all the things that I usually do not care for in a book being in it, I really did like this book :-)

The story follows two girls, Johanna Ilg, who has grown up in the Amana colonies. She enjoys her life there, and although she does having desires to see more of the world, she follows the rules and tries to live a life that would please her elders and the Lord.

Berta Schumacher has just moved to the colony from a pampered lifestyle in Chicago. She resists all aspects of life in the colony and gets into any and all kind of trouble!

These two completely different girls have been thrown into each others path and as Johanna is given the responsibility to train Berta, the girls from an unlikely friendship, though it's not without its' frustrations! When troubling secrets are exposed, the girls face the question of where they really belong.

I will definitely say that I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. Nothing in the plot is hugely dramatic or climactic, but it's the characters themselves that drew me in and kept my attention. Seeing the same story from two different viewpoints was a great way to get to know the girls better. A great story of family, friendship and the things that are really important in life!

Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.