JulieK's review
Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish
by Tom Shachtman
JulieK's review
Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish by Tom Shachtman
JulieK's review
rating:
bookshelves:
religious-cultures
A book about Amish kids letting loose that's less interesting than it really should be. The Amish allow their teenagers to experience the outside world during a "rumspringa" period - driving cars, partying, etc. - so that they are able to make an informed choice about joining the church as adults (which the vast majority end up doing, although sometimes not until after a lot of drinking and drug use). The topic is interesting - how kids from a very sheltered community deal with going out into the "real world" and how they cope with the freedom to develop their own rules instead of simply following the very strict ones they've grown up with. However, the author couldn't quite seem to decide whether he wanted to follow some kids as they went through rumspringa or write an academic treatise on the history and culture of the Amish in general. The book was written from interviews done for a documentary; I've gotten the film from the library and am hoping it's a bit m
