A Hand to Hold

Title: A HAND TO HOLD
Author: Kathleen Fuller
Publisher: Bethany House
September 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59554-814-6
Genre: Inspirational/Amish

Ruth Byler is anxious to start school. She’s had the lessons prepared for months in advance. She’s bought new notebooks and freshly sharpened pencils for all her students. And she’s just putting the finishing touches on her desk when a pickup truck crashes through the back wall of the school house.

Zachariah Bender was borrowing a friend’s pickup to go to the store for some supplies. He’s Amish and doesn’t have a license, but it wouldn’t take long to run to the store. But he lost control when a herd of deer ran in front of the truck. Now he owes a lot of money to fix the school and his friend’s truck.

As Ruth and Zach get to know each other, they find out that the long-held opinions they had of each other were wrong. But Zach has a secret he’s never told anyone. Will Ruth think less of him if she learns the truth?

A HAND TO HOLD has two different love stories in it. In addition to Ruth and Zach, there is also a story about Ruth’s brother, Stephen, and Deborah. I related more to Deborah and Stephen’s story but both were excellent.

This book is a little slow starting, and the ending feels kind of rushed, but otherwise, it is a great read. I’m giving it 4.5 stars, but marking it as 5 since a half star isn’t possible on certain sites. I highly recommend this book as well as any of the other books in this series. Kathleen Fuller is an Amish author whose work I’m going to want to keep reading. Discussion questions are included at the end of the book. $14.99. 278 pages.