Review of Double Take

Double Take by Melody Carlson is a modern fiction story very similar to the Prince and the Pauper (or city mouse and country mouse story). It's time for spring break, and Madison Van Buren is tired of her glitzy life. Her false friends, pressuring parents, and overbearing boyfriend become too much to handle, so she decides to escape to the country. Amish country, that is. While she is there, she meets Anna Fisher, an Amish girl who looks exactly like Madison. Anna also wants to escape her life, which is filled with chores, looking after children, and being with her "shameful" aunt. The two decide to switch places for a week, but their lives are forever changed.

I really enjoyed the plot of this book. Not only does it teach a lesson about being happy with the life God has given you, but as the girls impersonate each other, they learn a lot about the positive things along with the negative things about another life. I'm not a huge fan of Amish books, so I was glad that this book was a nice blend of both average American culture and the Amish culture.

My only slight issue was that the girls seemed to adapt a little to easily to the other culture- they still struggled, but some of the occurrences were predictable or the characters seemed suddenly forced to be a certain way.

All in all, I rate this book four out of four stars. Recommended to teen girls!

Specifics (from amazon.com):
~Paperback: 288 pages
~Publisher: Revell (June 1, 2011)

Note: Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes.

Blessings,