title: Family Nurse
author: Lydia Child
description: <DIV>Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Indian rights activist, novelist, and journalist. Her 1833 book An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans was the first anti-slavery work printed in America in book form, while her American Frugal Housewife, first published in 1828, was a wildly popular nineteenth-century manual for homemakers. Other works from Child, who is best remembered for her Thanksgiving poem ""Over the River and Through the Woods,"" include The Mother's Book, The Girl's Own Book, and The Family Nurse.</DIV>
zlib_text: > _Reckless Heart ~Ya~ (2012)_
  
  > > Amy Clipston
  
  > Zondervan (2012)
  
  > * * *
  
  > Rating: ★★★★☆
  
  > Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Religious, Christian, General  
  > Juvenile Fictionttt Religiousttt Christianttt Generalttt
  
  * * *
  
  Slipping. Lydia Bontrager's youngest sister is frighteningly ill, and as a
  good Amish daughter, it falls to Lydia to care for her siblings and keep the
  household running, in addition to working as a teacher's assistant and helping
  part time at her grandmother's bakery. Succumbing to stress, Lydia gives in to
  one wild night and returns home drunk. The secret of that mistake leaves Lydia
  feeling even more restless and confused, especially when Joshua, the only boy
  she's ever loved, becomes increasingly distant. When a non-Amish boy moves in
  nearby, Lydia finds someone who understands her, but the community is
  convinced Lydia is becoming too reckless. With the pressures at home and her
  sister's worsening condition, a splintering relationship with Joshua, and her
  own growi