Lillian has asked a carpenter friend who volunteers with the local fire department to demonstrate some fire safety to the children. This is vital in a community which doesn't like to use electricity. Timothy Bowman hopes to marry a good Amish girl someday, and start his own family. Although he's known Lillian for years, he doesn't know she's had life-saving surgery which will have the side-effect of preventing her from having children. In short, the only children she can expect to raise are the forty school kids, including one with inherited dwarfism. She's not looking for a husband - just a career. So she keeps her eyes off Timothy, much as she likes him and the books he brings her.

Debra Merrick is the local health inspector provided by the county, and when she arrives at the school Lillian explains various aspects of Amish life to her, so she takes the place of the reader. Lillian is sure Debra's a nice person but that doesn't give her the right to smile and chat with Timothy. Really, they were almost flirting. But all that is forgotten when a wildfire comes towards the wooden school house and its propane tank.

I enjoyed the characters and their realistic interactions. Just as much, I was interested in the relative paucity of education among the Amish. In previous books I'd seen how a girl about to make her own way didn't know the nearest states on a map. We are told now that many Amish children end school at fourteen and move on to the important vocational training for their chosen work. Lillian took correspondence college training, but she is an exception among teachers. We also learn about fire fighting and arson investigation, as well as Amish crop science. Threaded through the tale is a developing romance. Will the community be strong enough to withstand repeated suspicious fires? The tale moves swiftly and is full of convincing detail. HIS AMISH TEACHER will certainly reward a read by anyone interested in Amish inspirational romance.

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