Lizzie and Emma — Linda Byler

In Little Amish Lizzie, the first book in the Buggy Spoke series, five-year-old Lizzie moves to a new home with her family and must adjust to a new school, new house, and lots of new people. But some things stay the same, including her spunky, sensitive, and mischievous personality. It feels like her big sister Emma is just the opposite -- she is sweet, respectful, and good at just about everything that Lizzie isn't. When Lizzie and Emma begins, Lizzie is eight years old and it's not that she wishes she weren't the kind of girl who loves hiding for hours to read a good book or racing down too-steep hills on her sled or eating lots of doughnuts. But she does wish she could make herself walk instead of running once in awhile so she wouldn't get in trouble at school, and she knows no one thinks she's as pretty or as good as Emma is.
Times are hard for the Glick family -- Dat's business is still not doing well and his cheerful optimism is beginning to wear thin. Lizzie and Emma are young, but they begin to understand that Dat and Mam don't have enough money and their family might be in trouble. Will the sisters be able to put aside their differences to support each other through their family's financial struggles, tragedy in their community, and yet more changes?
This is the second book in the Buggy Spoke series, which follows Lizzie through her tumultuous teenage years as she struggles to mesh her hot temper and willful ways with her Amish faith. These books are the prequels to Linda Byler's bestselling Lizzie Searches for Love Trilogy, geared to a younger audience (ages 8-10). Reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, these books are delightful accounts of another way of life; each chapter is filled with vivid descriptions of Amish food, farms, and traditions. The series explores themes of respecting parents, not fitting in, sibling rivalry, recognizing your own shortcomings and gifts, and reconciling a strong personality with an abiding faith.