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Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amishby Tom Shachtman
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A revelatory look at Amish youth as they have never been looked at before. Rumspringa is a fascinating look at a little-known Amish coming-of-age ritual, the rumspringa — the period of "running around" that begins for their youth at age sixteen. Through vivid portraits of teenagers in Ohio and Indiana, Tom Shachtman offers an account of Amish life as a mirror to the soul-searching and questing that we recognize as a generally intrinsic part of adolescence. The trappings of the Amish way of life — the "plain" clothes and electricity-free farms — conceal the communities' mystery: how they manage to retain their young people and perpetuate themselves generation after generation. The key to this is the rumspringa, when Amish youth are allowed to live outside the bounds of their faith, experimenting with alcohol, premarital sex, trendy clothes, telephones, drugs, and wild parties. By allowing them such freedom, their parents hope they will learn enough to help them make the most important decision of their lives — whether to be baptized as Christians, join the church, and forever give up worldly ways, or to remain out in the world. In this searching book, Shachtman draws on his skills as a documentarian to capture young people on the cusp of a fateful decision, and to give us an original and deeply affecting portrait of the Amish as a whole. Review:"A teenage Amish girl sits in her buggy, one hand dangling a cigarette while the other holds a cellphone in which she is loudly chatting away. This girl, like many Amish teens 16 and older, is in a period called rumspringa, when the strict rules of community life are temporarily lifted while an adolescent chooses whether to be baptized into the church and abide fully by its laws. Shachtman, a documentarian who began studying this phenomenon for the film The Devil's Playground, is a sensitive and nimble chronicler of Amish teens, devoting ample space to allowing them to tell their stories in their own words. And their stories are fascinating, from the wild ones who engage in weekend-long parties, complete with hard drugs and sexual promiscuity, to the more sedate and pious teens who prefer to engage in careful courtship rituals under the bemused eyes of adult Amish chaperones. Shachtman's tone is by turns admiring — of the work ethic, strong families and religious faith that undergird Amish life — and critical, especially of the sect's treatment of women and its suspicion of education beyond the eighth grade. Throughout, Shachtman uses the Amish rumspringa experience as a foil for understanding American adolescence and identity formation in general, and also contextualizes rumspringa throughout the rapidly growing and changing Amish world. This is not only one of the most absorbing books ever written about the Plain People but a perceptive snapshot of the larger culture in which they live and move." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"This work, based in part on research done for the related documentary, Devil's Playground, sensitively addresses the unique position of the Amish and the challenges they face." Library Journal Review:"While readers familiar with the Amish as neighbors will find much insight into the plain people's whys and wherefores here, all teens will find accessible information about the psychology of late adolescence and the developmental work of independence." School Library Journal Review:"[A] riveting and instructive portrait." Kirkus Reviews Review:"Shachtman is like a maestro, masterfully conducting an orchestra of history, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and journalism together in a harmonious and evocative symphony of all things Amish." Christian Science Monitor Review:"The author's reporting is so scrupulous and open-minded that the mainstream reader can almost appreciate the punitive nature of the Amish practice of shunning." Newsday Review:"A fascinating glimpse into the lives of Amish youth." Balitmore Sun Review:"Shachtman's book...far surpasses the documentary....It provides lucid mini-essays on Amish history and practice, conversations with a much broader cross-section of Amish youth." Philadelphia Inquirer Review:"[As] much about the Amish faith and way of life in general as it is about rumspringa. It is as good an introduction to Amish culture as the average reader could ask for." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Synopsis:Through vivid portraits of teenagers in Ohio and Indiana, the author offers an account of Amish life as a mirror to the soul-searching and questing recognized as a generally intrinsic part of adolescence.
About the AuthorTom Schachtman is an award-winning documentarian and the author of many books, including Skyscraper Dreams, Around the Block, and The Day America Crashed. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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