Blog Tour and Book Review: Katy's New World (Book 1, Katy Lambright Series) by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Katy's New World (Book 1, Katy Lambright series)
by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Copyright 2010
Zondervan
208 pages
ISBN:978-0-310-71924-3
Teen Fiction

From the publisher:
When Katy Lambright is given the opportunity to attend a secular high school outside her Mennonite community, she is ecstatic. But as Katy begins to adjust to life outside her community and begins to make decisions for herself, her relationships with her family and lifelong friends become strained. Can Katy balance her new world with the Old Order?

My Review:
I've read a lot of books by Kim Vogel Sawyer but this is the first YA book of her's that I've read but it won't be the last. Even though it is a book about a young Mennonite girl I think a lot of teens will be able to relate to what she has to deal with in this book. Some of the themes include, making new friends, fitting in, and standing up for your beliefs while accepting people whose faith may be a bit different from yours.

Katy Lambright, the main character has to grow up in a single parent home since her mother abandoned her and her father and later died when Katy was very young. Even though farm life and working at her family's quilt shop keeps her busy she still longs for a higher education that is not typical for a Mennonite teen. When she is given permission to attend a public high school she must learn to deal with being the outsider among not only the students in school but her own friends in the Mennonite community who are having a hard time understanding Katy's desire for more learning.

I think Kim Vogel Sawyer does a really wonderful job in making Katy easy to relate to even though she is Mennonite. The secondary characters including her new friends at school are pretty realistic too! At first they treated her like an outsider but once they got used to her and realized that maybe she wasn't so "different" after all, they came around. The ending of this book seemed a bit abrupt but I realize that this is just the first book in a continuing series so hopefully everything plays out for Katy and her friends and family.

To learn more about Kim Vogel Sawyer and her books visit:
Her WEBSITE

*I received my complimentary review copy from Bridgette Brooks @ Zondervan.*