Courting Miss Amsel
Courting Miss Amsel
By Kim Vogel Sawyer
Published by Bethany House
Published on January 1, 2011
Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a strong believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her?
Joel Townsend is thrilled to learn the town council hired a female teacher to replace the ruthless man who terrorized his nephews for the past two years. Having raised the boys on his own since their parents' untimely deaths, Joel believes they will benefit from a woman's influence. But he sure didn't bargain on a woman like Miss Amsel. Within the first week, she has the entire town up in arms over her outlandish teaching methods, which include collecting leaves, catching bugs, making snow angels, and stringing ropes in strange patterns all over the schoolyard. Joel can't help but notice that she's also mighty pretty with her rosy lips, fashionable clothes, and fancy way of speaking.
When Edythe decides to take her pupils to hear Miss Susan Anthony speak on the women's suffrage amendment, the town's outcry reaches new heights. Even Joel isn't sure he can support her newfangled ideas any longer. And if he can't trust her to know how to teach the boys, how can he trust her with his heart?
I left this summary from Amazon up because this is what was on the back of the book. I find it to be a little misleading with the actual book itself. It is like one of those movie trailers that shows you all these big important scenes that end up not being so big or important in the book. This was a good book. Being a teacher, it felt a little odd reading a book about another teacher- but I did enjoy it. I liked that Miss Amsel was very independent and free thinking but didn't have it all figured out yet. I enjoyed the romance plot line. I think the only place that I thought was lacking was in the storyline of Miss Amsel's father. I was disappointed that he never made an actual appearance in the book. All in all a very good book.
