What do you think?
Rate this book
Summerhill Secrets #6
House of Secrets
Merry asks God to help her find her friend's missing mother
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1996
1 person is currently reading
277 people want to read
About the author
Beverly Lewis
259 books3,024 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."
Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher's Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 11, 2020
This one was interesting. It involves a cult and a photography contest. I didn't like the cult, but it unfortunately still happens. The photography contest was interesting, but parts of that storyline were a little weird, but also, that sometimes happened.
November 3, 2015
A fun mystery read. I originally started this series and read the first five books years ago -- can't even remember when, exactly -- so it took a while to get back into the series. I liked the characters and photography part of this story. A nice read!
January 17, 2025
Rereading these from when I was younger and I have very mixed feelings on them. This one dealt heavily with the occult, and while God and Scripture weave deeply through the storyline, everything seems so surface level. There is also no indication that the Amish beliefs are false. Our main character is a Christian but packs a terrible attitude. Probably not my first go-to for teen girl recommendations.
August 3, 2023
House of Secrets
SummerHill Secrets, Volume 2, Book 1
By: Beverly Lewis
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
House of Secrets
Overall 5 out of 5 stars Performance: 5 out of 5 Story: 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed: 07-09-23
This was a dark side of life but with a hopeful ending. Although it mentioned a photo contest that was something for the next season life.
April 26, 2023
A strange mystery about Chelsea’s mum and where she was. Community pulled together to help. Amongst this was a photography competition at the school, which sounded interesting and somewhat strange but sometimes that happens in life.
March 17, 2023
Number of pages: 13-129
Genre: Amish fiction (but the main character is an Englisher; one of her friends is Amish)
Series: Summerhill Secrets #6 (Should be read in order)
Age recommendation: 14+
Summary: Merry’s friend Chelsea comes to her with a problem: her mother is missing and the last time she saw her she was leaving with some questionable people. Merry offers her help in searching with Chelsea, and they discover what looks to be strange religious activities. What is Chelsea’s mom up to? Will the girls be able to help her get out?
My thoughts: The plot was really well done; it was interesting and realistic. I love that Chelsea is becoming more open to Christianity throughout this book as well. I think the amount of Christian content in this book is really good; Merry is not afraid to share her faith with her friends but it isn’t overbearing. She might just stop to pray for a minute, or tell them a Bible verse, and she lives each day trusting in God.
On the other hand, I really don’t like how dark/creepy the book gets. I mean, it’s Christian fiction and I wouldn’t even begin to compare that to secular books, but Chelsea’s mom gets caught up in some occult stuff, and I find the book to be unsettling. I probably would not recommend this particular book to a 13-year-old – although I do think they would appreciate the rest of the series.
My favourite description in the book is Merry’s picture for the photo contest. I have this image in my head and it’s so pretty… I wish that I could see it in real life!
My personal rating: I have to give this 3/5 stars, because while it was a well-written, interesting book, I just found all the occult stuff unsettling and kind of dark.
Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...
Genre: Amish fiction (but the main character is an Englisher; one of her friends is Amish)
Series: Summerhill Secrets #6 (Should be read in order)
Age recommendation: 14+
Summary: Merry’s friend Chelsea comes to her with a problem: her mother is missing and the last time she saw her she was leaving with some questionable people. Merry offers her help in searching with Chelsea, and they discover what looks to be strange religious activities. What is Chelsea’s mom up to? Will the girls be able to help her get out?
My thoughts: The plot was really well done; it was interesting and realistic. I love that Chelsea is becoming more open to Christianity throughout this book as well. I think the amount of Christian content in this book is really good; Merry is not afraid to share her faith with her friends but it isn’t overbearing. She might just stop to pray for a minute, or tell them a Bible verse, and she lives each day trusting in God.
On the other hand, I really don’t like how dark/creepy the book gets. I mean, it’s Christian fiction and I wouldn’t even begin to compare that to secular books, but Chelsea’s mom gets caught up in some occult stuff, and I find the book to be unsettling. I probably would not recommend this particular book to a 13-year-old – although I do think they would appreciate the rest of the series.
My favourite description in the book is Merry’s picture for the photo contest. I have this image in my head and it’s so pretty… I wish that I could see it in real life!
My personal rating: I have to give this 3/5 stars, because while it was a well-written, interesting book, I just found all the occult stuff unsettling and kind of dark.
Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...
May 8, 2014
This one starts off with a humdinger of a problem, Merry's friend Chelsea makes a shocking confession to Merry: her mom took off in the night, leaving a note that states she's not coming home and don't bother looking for her type of thing. Merry wanting to help her friend, starts an investigation that reminds me of Nancy Drew, but what happens when they find a hidden away shack full of burnt candles and incense on Chelsea's property? Has her mom joined a cult or studying the occult, both are possibilities; And what happens when Merry prays in front of her Atheist friend, Chelsea?
I really love this series by Beverly Lewis, her writing is so pure and easy to read.
I really love this series by Beverly Lewis, her writing is so pure and easy to read.
Read
June 6, 2013the 6th in the SummerHill Secrets series. LOVE IT SOOO MUCH!
January 18, 2016
Had to suspend a lot of disbelief on this installment in the series. Why would two ninth graders think they could do more to find a missing person than the authorities could?
April 14, 2017
An easy book about friendship and finding God's love.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews