Spring is in the Air

Tales from Grace Chapel Inn #26

by Jane Orcutt

About the Tales from Grace Chapel Inn series: Once readers visit the charming village of Acorn Hill, they'll never want to leave. Three sisters -- Louise, a widow from Philadelphia; Alice, an unmarried nurse who lived with her father; and Jane, a divorced chef from San Francisco -- reunite in the sleepy town after their father's death and turn the family home into a charming bed-and-breakfast. Here the sisters rekindle old memories, rediscover their childhood bonds, revel in the blessings of friendship, and meet fascinating guests along the way.

Spring comes to Acorn Hill and brings with it birds, budding flowers and a whole new set of challenges for the Howard sisters. While Louise becomes involved in the creation of the town's official website, Jane helps coach the local Little League team and Alice befriends an Amish girl who's about to make the biggest decision of her life. Meanwhile, the sisters host a family who are building something very interesting in the backyard. When spring is in the air, excitement is just around the corner.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Romance, Amish

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Award-winning Christian author Jane Orcutt was born on January 25th, 1960, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Born with a serious heart defect, Jane faced surgeries and long recoveries from the age of five. But these solitary times only strengthened Jane’s love for reading, and her dream of one day becoming a writer.

Jane achieved that dream with style, not only as a popular Christian novelist with fourteen published books to her credit, but also through her mentorship of many young writers.

Throughout Jane’s life, she enjoyed writing about her home state of Texas. She was particularly talented at breathing life into historical time periods and she brought a fresh view of the bluebonnet state to her readers worldwide.

As a University of Texas graduate, she possessed a broad range of writing and editing skills, which she used in her own writing, as a production worker for an Austin television station, and as an editor for a Forth Worth publishing company.

In 1982, Jane married Bill Orcutt. They had two sons, Colin and Sam, whom Jane homeschooled until they reached high school. Jane often stated that this accomplishment was her pride and joy. She was passionate about helping her sons explore their interests and intellect while allowing them to grow into individual men of their own account.

Jane was a loyal and loving wife, mother, daughter, and sister, a witty and sought-after friend, a powerful writer, and a tender pet owner. Most of all Jane was a follower and lover of Jesus Christ.

On Sunday, March 18, 2007, after a long battle with acute myeloid leukemia, Jane stepped into the arms of her Savior.

She now rests safely in His arms, while her powerful legacy lives on through her family and through her books.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice goes to Amish country and brings back an Amish girl who wants to see if she should stay Amish or not. Louise gets involved in helping with the town’s new website. Jane is helping out with the town’s little league. Aunt Ethel decides to volunteer at the library with her usual results.

[Shirley Chapel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the story Spring Is in the Air, the author Jane Orcutt took readers into the life of an Amish girl. Annie Stoltzfus is finished school and starting her Rumspringa. This is a time where Amish teens decide whether they will take the kneeling vow and be baptized into the Amish church or leave the Amish faith for the English life. Annie wanted to be sure if being Amish was what she really wanted.
When Sylvia Songer and Jane Howard take a trip to Lancaster Pennsylvania, they visit Annie's family and she decides to come back to Acorn Hill and do her Rumspringa there. This is a real struggle for some Amish teens as once you take the vow and Baptism it's a life time commitment. Annie wants to know what life outside of the Amish communities is really like in order to help her make the best choice.
I loved the different twist in this book. Acorn Hill is a small fictional town in Pennsylvania . This is the first time the Amish have been bought into these books. Of course there are other things happening in the story besides Annie's rumspringa. I've been reading this series for years. There are 49 books to the Grace Chapel Inn series. I've enjoyed all of them that I've read and I just keep being drawn back again and again! I thought I might mention that the author of Spring Is in the Air died in 2007 from cancer. I was saddened to learn of this and I'm sure she is greatly missed.
All readers of Christian Fiction and clean read will love these books. They are also suitable for the youth.
I borrowed a hardcover copy from the local library. A review was not requested. All opinions expressed here in this review are my own.

[jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

This book brought me back to my childhood days of softball and family fun a really good read for everyone

[Debby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my favorite cozy mysterty series but this book is my least favorite one. There is no mystery here! The plot centers on a young Amish girl on her rumspringa. Will she stay with the English or return to her sect? Boring. I am not into the whole Amish storyline. I still enjoy the cast of characters but this story line left me flat.

[Lavender · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a clean, easy to read, not too exciting diversion before bed.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spring fever. Baseball games, cardboard boat races & rumspringa. The Howard sisters again share their lives with many.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

simple story as most of grace chapel hill is I really prefer when Jane is searching for answers like in I think the 4th book recipes and wooden spoons but this was fine

[Teri Pre · Rating 4 out of 5]

We never really know when these stories take place but "girls can't play baseball" sounds more like it's from the 60s than from the computer age.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all the stories about the sisters. I believe the middle sister is my favorite.

[Theresa Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Debbie Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Tales From Grace Chapel Inn book this one very interesting as a homeschool family is visiting the Inn. I found the homeschool family to perfect. Way overachievers. Not typical at all. But fun and loving and learning together in a wonderful way. If you have never been a homeschooler or had close contact with homeschoolers, and were considering it as an option for your children's education, you may be intimidated by all this family accomplishes. I guess I will accept it as good overall as homeschoolers don't even get mentioned in most fiction books.

The baseball practices and games and the cardboard boat regatta at a local swimming pool bring fun to this book in the series. The presence of a young girl trying to decide whether to join the Amish community she grew up in or leave friends and family and join the English world bring seriousness to the book as the sisters and other Acorn Hill residents pray and give advice to help her make the best decision for her future.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started 3/28/2012 Tales from Grace Chapel Inn Series. An Amish girl stays in Acorn Hill for her rumspringa. This is a time before being baptized when a teen makes the decision to stay with the Amish or leave their families for good and live with the English which to them is non Amish. A little league teem is formed and named the The Acorn Hill Squirrels. A family of home schooled children stay at the Inn.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story and a simple book but a very good read. I saw this in a used book store and since it was a good bargain for a hardbound book, I decided to buy and what did I get myself into? I couldn't put the book down because it was your typical story and so simple that it sort of made me re-evaluate my own life as well.

If you want to take a step back from all the rush of the world we live in today, have this book and get a simpler look at life.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of Spring and baseball. The sisters of Grace Chapel Inn are all busy with gardening, keeping track of the boys baseball team with the 2 coaches and trying to keep their aunt from trashing the city library. Through in a new city web site and you have life as it is in the small town of Acorn Hill. Oh yes an Amish girl comes to stay with Sylvia to see if she wants to convert from Amish to American way of life.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book from the Guideposts series, Tales from the Grace Chapel Inn. I know I can always pull one of these books out of my stash, for an easy, light, comfy and cozy read. I'm a little late reading one set in the spring (Little League baseball, planting a garden, etc), but I still enjoyed it! :)

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very light read and not one of the best in this series. The three sisters and their Aunt Ethel help their friends and guests. In this book they discuss the Amish, homeschooling, parents over involvement in their son's little league team and creating a website for their town.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is just a make you feel good kind of series. It's been sometime since I'd read any in the series, all of the characters came back to me. This was just a nice relaxed read.

[Margaret Boehm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful story.

[Krysta McGovern · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good quick read

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Amish visitor arrives to see how the teenagers life goes on in the 'English' world. The village has several contests including a cardboard boat race.