Helpful Score: 9
A fascinating, if sometime overly sympathetic, look at Amish life. The author's narrative primarily moves forward through "case studies" of Amish youth. These young people make varied choices, that either lead them back to the Amish fold, or out into the larger world. To me what was amazing was the decision process that lead these young people back to the Amish Church and way of life after being out and experiencing mainstream life.
Helpful Score: 7
The beginning was interesting; the middle lagged; the end was boring and repetitive. I was expecting so much more from this book and somehow the author dropped the ball.
Helpful Score: 7
An inside look into the lives of modern Amish teenagers faced with some tough decisions. This book had a little too much sociology/anthropology/psychology than I felt was needed to compare Amish teens with non-Amish teens.
Helpful Score: 5
Started out good but midway I started to lose interest. Seemed somewhat repetitive at times. Could serve well as an added read in a sociology class.
Heather C. (heatherbell) - , reviewed Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I was expecting more stories from Amish themselves and what their lives were like. This book included lots of studies done on the Amish lifestyle. Still a good read but hard to trudge through at times.
Helpful Score: 4
This book was just awful. I plodded through 50 pages to try to give it a chance but just had to quit. I was hoping for an informative documentary but I felt like I was reading a something out of a gossip column. It just didn't grab my attention and I didn't really learn anything new.
Helpful Score: 3
Very interesting. A bit repetitive at times but informative.
Helpful Score: 2
Well researched and well told. These Amish youngsters have much to think about, and in the end, so do we
Helpful Score: 2
Interesting book about Amish teens and the pressures in their lives.
Helpful Score: 2
Really interesting! Learned a lot
To me this was a difficult book to read - it felt too much like I was reading a textbook. While it was very informative, I felt like the author was a little pretentious and thesaurus happy in his wording - some parts were hard to understand. The stories of the different youth's passages were interesting.
I wasn't really impressed with this book. Not sure what I expected but nothing exciting really jumped out and grabbed me. I didn't even finish it. If a book doesn't snag me with the first couple of chapters its not for me.
Well written and insightful take on what it means in today's world to be Amish.
Very informative look at the practice of "rumspringa", the Pennsylvania Dutch word for "running around", a time when Amish youth can try out life in the "English" world, with all its temptations, before deciding to become baptised and remain in the Amish faith. The book is well- documented with many examples from the various Amish communities in the mid-West and in Pennsylvania.
This book is kind of interesting. It was about my hometown.
I already knew a lot about the subject because of where I live. It was a fascinating book made more so because a lot of it took place in Shipshewana where my daughter lives and i recognized some of the places mentioned.
