Lost and Found

Lost and Found by Suzanne Woods Fisher takes us back to Stoney Ridge, Pennsylvania. I always enjoy returning to Stoney Ridge to catch up with the characters. I feel bad for Bishop David Stoltzfus who needs to come up with a solution for the community. Families are leaving left and right. They do not want their children to be influenced by the Beachy Amish who are more progressive than their Old Order Amish community. Just when Micah Weaver is finally taking notice of Trudy Yoder, he becomes distant. Poor Trudy has no idea what is going on with Micah. The characters are developed with each one having a unique personality. Hank manages to keep up on the latest gossip and makes sure others in the community are up on the latest events. I do not know how his wife puts up with the volume of his voice (you would think he had hearing troubles from the way he shouts, but his hearing is excellent much to the bishop's dismay). Birding is featured throughout the story. It is an unusual theme for an Amish story. I can tell the author did her research on birding (it is educational). I enjoyed Trudy's bird watching entries at the end of each chapter which include Biblical references. I did not know there were so many bird references in the Bible. I like how the bird is compared to an individual in the story. There is someone new in the Stoney Ridge permit office (there is a reason she was sent to work alone in this one-person office). She is quite a character, and it turns out that she is a bird watcher as well. In Lost and Found, we see that you never know who might be suffering from a mental illness. When a family member has a mental illness, it affects the whole family. Lost and Found can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. I have enjoyed every story set in Stoney Ridge. It has allowed me to get to know the characters and the setting. I loved the humor sprinkled throughout the story. You can always count on Hank for entertainment. Lost and Found is a special story with families taking leave, mystifying messages, a land dilemma, romance miseries, a special fowl sighting, trip troubles, and happy people.