Synopses & Reviews
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
"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.
Synopsis
Rumspringa is Tom Shachtman's celebrated look at a littleknown Amish coming-of-age ritual, the
rumspringa--the period of "running around" that begins for their youth at age sixteen. During this time, Amish youth are allowed to live outside the bounds of their faith, experimenting with alcohol, premarital sex, revealing clothes, telephones, drugs, and wild parties. By allowing such broad freedoms, 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 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 "one of the most absorbing books ever written about the Plain People" (Publishers Weekly).
About the Author
Tom Shachtman is an award-winning documentarian and the author of many books, including Skyscraper Dreams, Around the Block, and The Day America Crashed.