Returning to Stoney Ridge after a winter in Ohio, Sadie Lapp is faced with a decision that goes against her very essence. Yet it's the only way she can protect a loved one. Schoolteacher Gideon Smucker's response undermines his relationship with Sadie and his reputation. College student Will Stoltz is spending the spring at the Lapp farm. He needs to get his life back on track, but a growing friendship with Sadie threatens those plans.

"In her wildest dreams, spunky and impulsive nineteen-year-old Mary Kate Lapp never imagined herself behind a schoolteacher's desk. A run-in (literally) with the schoolteacher compels her to act as a substitute teacher, just as her restless desire to see the world compels her to apply for a passport ... just in case. The only thing of interest to M.K. in the sleepy Amish community of Stoney Ridge is the unexplained death of a sheep farmer that coincided...