Growing Up Amish

( 76 )

Overview

New York Times eBook bestseller!
One fateful starless night, 17-year-old Ira Wagler got up at 2 AM, left a scribbled note under his pillow, packed all of his earthly belongings into in a little black duffel bag, and walked away from his home in the Amish settlement of Bloomfield, Iowa. Now, in this heartwarming memoir, Ira paints a vivid portrait of Amish life—from his childhood days on the family farm, his Rumspringa rite of passage at age 16, to his ultimate decision to leave ...

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Growing Up Amish: A Memoir

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More About This Book

Overview

New York Times eBook bestseller!
One fateful starless night, 17-year-old Ira Wagler got up at 2 AM, left a scribbled note under his pillow, packed all of his earthly belongings into in a little black duffel bag, and walked away from his home in the Amish settlement of Bloomfield, Iowa. Now, in this heartwarming memoir, Ira paints a vivid portrait of Amish life—from his childhood days on the family farm, his Rumspringa rite of passage at age 16, to his ultimate decision to leave the Amish Church for good at age 26. Growing Up Amish is the true story of one man’s quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Readers will laugh, cry, and be inspired by this charming yet poignant coming of age story set amidst the backdrop of one of the most enigmatic cultures in America today—the Old Order Amish. Tyndale House Publishers

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Ira Wagler was born in 1961, the ninth of a Canadian Amish couple's eleven children. At seventeen, in the dark of night, he left the religious settlement, but it was only nine years later that he finally left the church for good. His favorite Bible verse is from Psalm 34: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." In this new memoir, he tells what it was like growing up Old World Amish and what it felt like leaving it for a strange new world. Far more than picturesque; Growing Up Amish conveys one man's heartfelt experience.

Publishers Weekly
Filmmakers, academics, and novelists have offered depictions of Amish life. This memoir offers a nuanced account from a man who straddled both Amish and "English" (non-Amish) worlds. Wagler recounts his Amish upbringing, from dating conventions and worship services to local gossip and schoolyard bullies. The simplicity of everyday life may seem quaint on the surface. Yet Wagler bravely goes on to expose pervasive dissatisfaction among both youth and adult Amish living in what he characterizes as a stifling, formulaic world. Such unspoken displeasure sparked a cycle of coming and going for the author, who repeatedly crept away from his community only to return, if reluctantly, for its familiarity. It was a "paradox that would haunt me for almost ten years: the tug-of-war between two worlds." His tale of restlessness looks acutely at the clash of family ties with love of freedom. The memoir is worthwhile as much for its Amish insights as for its exploration of one man's emotional turmoil, regret, and shame. Wagler, who now works at a building and supply company in Lancaster County, Pa., deserves praise for his honesty. (July)
From the Publisher
Filmmakers, academics, and novelists have offered depictions of Amish life. This memoir offers a nuanced account from a man who straddled both Amish and “English” (non-Amish) worlds. Wagler recounts his Amish upbringing, from dating conventions and worship services to local gossip and schoolyard bullies. The simplicity of everyday life may seem quaint on the surface. Yet Wagler bravely goes on to expose pervasive dissatisfaction among both youth and adult Amish living in what he characterizes as a stifling, formulaic world. Such unspoken displeasure sparked a cycle of coming and going for the author, who repeatedly crept away from his community only to return, if reluctantly, for its familiarity. It was a “paradox that would haunt me for almost ten years: the tug-of-war between two worlds.” His tale of restlessness looks acutely at the clash of family ties with love of freedom. The memoir is worthwhile as much for its Amish insights as for its exploration of one man’s emotional turmoil, regret, and shame. Wagler, who now works at a building and supply company in Lancaster County, Pa., deserves praise for his honesty. Publisher's Weekly
Library Journal
This book joins several others recently published on the now popular subject of Amish life. In his memoir, Wagler chronicles growing up in an Iowa Amish community and eventually leaving it. First written on his blog at www.irawagler.com, the narrative unfolds well for a first book. Wagler's writing portrays the conflicting emotions of breaking away from the family and faith he loves because of his need to break free from a life that didn't suit him. The distinct feature of this story is that through all of his teen angst and turmoil, during which he left the Amish, he did not lose his faith in God. He was able to find another faith community to identify with. This engaging memoir doesn't lag but keeps the reader interested all the way through. VERDICT Fans of all things Amish, as well as those interested specifically in spirituality, will find this a good read. It serves as a nice addition to previous books written on the subject.—Holly Hebert, Brentwood P.L., TN
Kirkus Reviews

An affecting memoir from a former Old Order Amish member who abandoned his structured family life for autonomy in the free world.

Wagler, the 9th of 11 children, recalls his family settling in the "somewhat progressive" southwestern Canadian township of Aylmer in the 1960s. They enjoyed running water on the farm, unlike other more conservative Amish collectives bound by what Wagler calls the "inordinate fussing" of horse-and-buggy travel, forbidden electric and telephone service, home-sewn dresses for women and beards for men. His farm years are fondly and unhurriedly conveyed in ponderous reflection as Wagler admits to rarely ever being bored growing up (three-hour church services were the only exception). As his teenage years hit, resistance to the rigid Amish rules simmered while the family uprooted themselves to a burgeoning Amish community in Bloomfield, Iowa. There, Wagler experimented with the worldly temptations of the outward "English society" during his traditional adolescent "Rumspringa" period, but, at 17, the itch of independence became a calling he couldn't deny or resist. Late one night, armed with a duffel bag and $150, he left home. In engrossing, straightforward prose, the author passionately describes the ensuing five years he spent rationalizing his desire to join the outside world while he grappled with the tidal pull back to familial safety and stability. This created an exasperating cycle of secretive departures and humbling homecomings; even an attempt at love was dashed in favor of fleeing once again. The collective shunning by the Amish church proved a double-edged sword for the author; while sorrowful, it finally brought necessary closure to Wagler's youthful wanderings, yet taught him how to "leave and not be lost."

Boldly goes where many Amish chronicles fear to tread: the exodus of members seeking an unencumbered lifestyle.

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781414339368
  • Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
  • Publication date: 6/28/2011
  • Pages: 288
  • Sales rank: 92,959
  • Product dimensions: 6.30 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 0.60 (d)

First Chapter

GROWING UP AMISH

A MEMOIR
By IRA WAGLER

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Ira Wagler
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4143-3936-8

Chapter One

No one seems to remember exactly what was going on at the old home farm that day. Can't say I blame them. There is no particular reason they should.

The one thing everybody does seem to agree on is that it was a typical late August day. Stiflingly oppressive heat. Barely a wisp of a breeze. Not a cloud in the sky. Not that I could confirm or deny any of it. I wasn't there. At least not when the day dawned.

Some of my older siblings claim the threshers were there—though it was awfully late in the season for threshing oats. The menfolk were probably clattering about in the barn loft, sweeping the old wooden granary bins where the oats would be stored. And soon enough, the neighbors would have come rattling in with teams and wagons to haul the bundled oat sheaves. The threshing machine would have been there too, pulled by an ancient hybrid of a tractor and set up by the barn before the first loaded wagons came swaying in from the fields. Sweating in the dust and heat, the men would have been pitching the bundles onto the conveyor belt that fed the belt-driven threshing machine, where they would have been chewed up, separated, and deposited into the barn as oats and straw. The late harvest was under way.

I'm guessing some of the younger kids were picking strawberries in the field out by the old hickory tree. Seems late in the year for strawberries, too, except for the Everbearing kind. Those plants produced from June until the fall frosts killed them. My father planted gobs of them every year to sell as produce—and to keep the children busy.

If Mom felt extra tired or stressed that morning, I'm sure she didn't let on. After breakfast, she and my older sisters were probably doing what they always did: washing dishes, cleaning the house, and preparing the noon meal for everyone, which on that day would include the threshing crew.

But then, my sisters remember Mom abruptly stopping what she was doing. Stumbling to a wooden chair by the kitchen table, her face twitching with sudden spasms of pain.

"Go fetch your father from the barn," she instructed Rosemary and Magdalena. And off they went.

"Mom said for you to come. Right away," they gasped. Dad dropped his shovel and rushed to the house, the girls tagging anxiously behind him.

Mom was sitting there at the table, white faced. "It's time," she told him. He turned and dashed off to the neighbors' place a quarter mile to the east. "English" people who had a car.

Moments later, my sisters stood silently by and watched as my mother—still sitting in her chair—was carried to the car by my father and one of the threshers. After easing the chair to the ground, Dad helped Mom shift into the backseat. Once everyone was situated—Dad, Mom, and the English neighbor—they headed off to the hospital in nearby Tillsonburg.

Except for Rosemary and Magdalena, I doubt the rest of my siblings had any clue what was going on. They may have noticed that Mom had gained some weight lately and that she seemed tired a lot. But in those days, in that setting, no one spoke of such things. Especially to young children.

Dad didn't return home until supper time, and when he did, Mom was not with him. My sisters remember the children gathering round.

"Where's Mom?"

"We have a little baby," Dad announced, beaming. "A boy."

They murmured excitedly. "A baby!"

"Mom is staying at the hospital tonight. We'll go get her tomorrow."

I'd like to think my birth was an important event, and to some extent, of course, it was. But in Amish families, the arrival of a new baby isn't treated the same as it is in English families, where everyone fusses rapturously. For the Amish, where it's not at all uncommon for families to have upwards of ten children, a new baby just isn't that big a deal.

By the time I came along, my parents already had eight children. Four boys and four girls. An even number of each. I broke the tie. Number nine. I'd like to think, too, that the choosing of my name was the source of much somber thought and measured consideration. Serious weighing of various possibilities and combinations. Perhaps even reciting the finalists aloud a time or two, just to make sure the name would fit in the flow of all the others in the family.

I'd like to think it was an important ritual. But again, I know better.

Earlier that summer, Dad had hired a strapping young man to help with the farmwork for room and board and a couple of bucks a day. He was Dad's nephew and my cousin, probably around twenty years old. He was a fine, upstanding fellow, by all accounts. Hardworking, too. His name was Ira Stoll.

And by the time Dad had fetched Mom and me from the Tillsonburg hospital the next day, someone—I suspect it was my two oldest sisters—had come up with the fateful suggestion: "Why don't we name the new baby boy Ira?"

"After our cousin?" I can imagine Dad stroking his long black beard thoughtfully.

Mom, resting in bed, did not protest. In fact, I'm guessing she was even a little relieved. And so it was settled, in the most lackadaisical manner imaginable. With zero fanfare or fuss, I was saddled forever with the name Ira.

No middle name.

Just Ira.

Ira Wagler.

And thus began my life in the Old Order Amish community of Aylmer, Ontario.

(Continues...)


Excerpted from GROWING UP AMISH by IRA WAGLER Copyright © 2011 by Ira Wagler. Excerpted by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 76 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(21)

4 Star

(29)

3 Star

(13)

2 Star

(4)

1 Star

(9)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 76 Customer Reviews

  • Posted September 4, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Amish Must Read

    I have always loved reading and hearing about the Amish life. There are several reasons for this. I grew upon a farm in Indiana. My parents became Christians when I was five. With no one to guide her in her walk, my mother decided it was better to err on God's side. Board games, dancing of any kind, and most television shows became off limits or a sin. My books and comic books were scrutinized. My mom's first question whenever I told her about a new friend was, "Are they a Christian?" I had few friends growing up because they did not fit into my mom's "category" of what a Christian was. I worked on the farm just as the Amish do. When we moved to Florida I learned that what we called a garden the people down here called a truck patch or small farm. I learned how to can and freeze fruits and vegetables. We smoked our own meat. In the winter we filled a concrete tub in our 'milk house' up with snow and put perishables in it. It was a tough life yet one I miss.

    It may be these memories that have always drawn me to Amish fiction. I can see so many parallels. I was thrilled to read Ira Wagler's book Growing Up Amish. In this book we get a look at the "real" Amish. Not the ones so often written about in romance novels, which make the Amish come across as a people who do, or think no wrong. We find a man who has struggled to find where he truly belongs. He wanted to be a part of the Amish world he was born into, yet felt it was not for him. At age 17 he left his Amish home in Iowa. He later returns, and must admit all of his sins to the congregation before he is allowed to join the church. He tries, but still doesn't seem to feel as if he is where he should be. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to once again make a decision to leave his Amish life. He subjected himself to this pain many times before leaving for good.

    The pain of being shunned by everyone you know is hard enough. Their belief is if you left the church then your soul was headed for damnation. I was happy to learn that Ira finally asked God about his situation and got an answer. He found salvation outside of his Amish culture. Unfortunately it is not only the Amish that are like this. We see this in many denominations. They become so legalistic that it seems they forget what Jesus was all about. I thank God each and every day that his love for us is not based on a set of laws. We see where that got people in the old testament.

    This book is a great look at the Amish. However, I believe the message I it is clear. We all need to take a look at our lives and ask if we are where God wants us. If not then maybe we need to talk with him to find out where he wants us to be. I do find it funny when I think about how they try to separate themselves from the English. When we get to heaven Go is not going to separate us, say, "You Baptist over there and You Amish over here. We who have found salvation through Jesus blood are all God's children and he has prepared a home for us in heaven, together.

    This is a must read book for anyone who enjoys learning about the Amish.

    16 out of 17 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 12, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Interesting but a bit anti-climactic

    I purchased this book and tore through it with great interest. It was an honest, open and heart felt account of the author's intense personal struggle of choosing one way of life over another. I empathized with him throughout the book and found myself far from envious of his predicament of having to choose between personal freedom to live his life as he chooses in the modern world, with all of it's excitement, danger and opportunity or the security of family and a faith tradition that was stable but contrary to what his heart told him was best for him. The reason I give it three stars is that unless I missed an important detail, I found it anti-climactic in the sense that there was no mention of what his relationship with his Amish family is now, which leaves the reader wondering if he's been all together shunned or if there is nominal familial contact (though there were hints in the book that make me tend to believe it's the latter). Enjoyable and insightful all the same and I definitely recommend it.

    5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 11, 2012

    A disappointment

    Im a huge fan of amish books but this one really disappointed me. To me it wasnt enjoyable at all to read. Maybe it was just the story itself that i didnt like, being it was the author telling the story of his rough life.

    3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 25, 2011

    I got restless....

    Im sorry to say that i found this book rather tedious. Author incessantly complaining and stating the same personal revelations again and again. When i bought the book i hoped for more on Amish culture, and i never expexted it to be a personal Christian testimonial. I didnt like the book because i expected what the preview provided, and will not recommend it for the same reason. amyjoe

    3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 6, 2011

    DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY

    Nook books are not returnable; that is the format in which I purchased.

    Don't waste your money!!!

    I just spent a good bit of time writing a review which this website promptly ERASED when I attempted to sign in.

    I cannot write another full review.

    But PLEASE do not waste your money on this book.

    Wagler's account is highly disorganized and meandering--like his life!

    He hastily added an inconclusive epilogue after SPRINTING to a would-be conclusion in a mere EIGHT pages of a 214-page book.

    He repeatedly admits how much of his childhood he can't remember. Now, if he can't remember the details of the very PREMISE of his book, why should I even read it???

    3 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 8, 2012

    meandering story

    Wagler's story started out interesting, but I soon tired of his soul-searching and seemingly aimless quests for life outside the Amish community. I really never fully understood his life experiences, the influential people he met were never fully woven into his story: what did he learn about living among the "English." Then when he made the final decision to leave his fiance and the community was like he outgrew an old coat to be tossed aside with little regard to emotional toll on the fiance and family. In the end, I had no sympathy for his situation since his story was like a man-child searching and not knowing where his life was taking him.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 13, 2011

    Amish Unplugged

    When you hear the word "Amish" you instantly think of the furniture, the dark clothing, and the rustic lifestyle. In Growing Up Amish: A Memoir by Ira Wagler, the author takes you inside the Amish world.
    Reared as the youngest boy in a family of eleven children, Wagler knows no other way that the rigid simplistic life of his faith and the Amish way of life. However, this boy as he transitions to manhood yearns for the world outside the confines of his community.

    Wagler ventures out to discover the true ways of the world only to be outcast from his community. Throughout the journey Wagler comes home to reconnect with his roots only to realize that he must carve out his own path to discover happiness, success, and himself. He chronicles the adventures the challenges life throws his way from being shun from his community to losing his beloved. All the while he stays strong and moves forward to a new day.

    Growing Up Amish: A Memoir by Ira Wagler is a candid tale of a young man's odyssey into manhood.

    2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 7, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Really good Amish memoir....come check it out!

    Have you ever thought how it would be to live without electricity, a car, or even store-bought jeans? Come follow this eye-opening account of "Growing Up Amish" and get a glimpse of what that life is really like.

    Ira Wagler's life, in his eyes, begins rather uneventfully in his family of 11. His daily existence is pure and simply led through the basic lifestyle of the Old Order Amish. By the age of seventeen, see how disenchanted he has become and how he must go through several years of trials and tribulations before he can finally be at peace with himself and where he needs to be in his life.

    Being a fan of Amish fiction, I knew I would enjoy reading this personal story. Mr. Wagler gives such an honest account of his feelings throughout the story that you really feel them with him. It makes you want to turn page after page to see where he will end up in the end.

    I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about the Amish lifestyle.

    This book was kindly provided to me by Tyndale House for my honest review.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 21, 2012

    An honest view

    This book is an honest view into Amish life. We "English" really don't understand the lifestyle but Growing Up Amish gives us a hint in to their world. A very worthwhile read!

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 9, 2012

    Well written and honest memoir

    This book is the first hand account of a man who grew up Amish. He describes his family and upbringing in a way that is easy to relate to and hard to put down. He doesnt glamorize the lifestyle and explains interesting aspects of the culture I haven't read before. I think this is the best written autobiography of someone raised Amish and I have read all that I could find. Although the book focuses on the divide between Amish and outside culture, much of it is about adolescence and events within the Amish world that all of us have experienced or can relate to. I highly recommend this book about a former Amish person's experiences that are all too human. It will make you think twice about what it is like to live Amish.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2011

    Good read if you enjoy a journey.

    I liked this book. It is not an 'on-the-seat-of-your-pants' kind of book, but a good story of a boy in a unique lifestyle trying to find his way. Such a hard lifestyle - having family or not being able to have them. Everyone needs family - a good read. The simplicity of life for them is so foreign to most of us - that element also kept me wanting to know more. You want him to succeed & find his happiness. A good unique story.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 22, 2011

    Recommend highly and hard to put down.

    I have been interested in following the Amish religion and culture for many years. I found the book very interesting, could not put it down, and it certainly was climatic. I would recommend it because it occurred in an area of Iowa that I was familiar with. It helped me understand what was different between each of the different settlements throughout the various locations in several states. Have experienced a similar situation in my family but it was a different religion.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 12, 2011

    Highly Recommended and a Must-Read!

    This book was provided to me by Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for a review of my opinion of the book, either positive or negative. I can honestly say this is a truly positive review! This book was a true joy to read, as is very interesting and captivating. It drew me in from the very first sentence. I could not put this book down but only for the demands of life.
    Ira, the author, was born into a very large Amish family. His father is the editor of an Amish periodical that is subscribed to by just about every Amish household that exists. It is quite amazing how this periodical came to be and still exists today, which is explained in the book. As Ira meets strangers and tells them his name, he is recognized by other Amish people as his father's son by his last name alone by recognition of his father's name, and is often asked if he is 'the writer's son'? This is how popular and a good writer his father is. (Ira's fathers' talent for writing has rubbed off on his son, Ira, the author of this book, as you will see if you choose to read this author's wonderfully written, descriptive, and talented book.) It shows how dedicated his father is to living and believing the Amish lifestyle is the only way to live and the only way of life. This creates a lot of tension between Ira and his father.
    Ira tells the story of his life as he is confiding his deepest, darkest secrets in you. You feel like you are right there, sitting right next to him, listening to all his trials and tribulations of his Amish life. You feel what he feels as he grows and experiences all that he does. Is the Amish way of life the life he wants to live?
    You also learn the real, nitty-gritty rules of Amish life, things you would not know unless you read this book. The rules all differ as to what is accepted and what is not accepted in many different ways; the differing communities, communities from county to county, from state to state. I was not aware these rules even existed the way they do. Again, the many different ways/rules of doing things and living that are or are not accepted, right down to the type of buggy wheels the Amish were allowed to use and even the clothing they wore. I learned so much about the Amish in this Non-Fiction book than in any fictional book I've ever read.
    Ira, being from a very large Amish family, he pretty much had a normal childhood, until the closer he got to the age of 16, when the children were then considered adults. This is about the time when the young Amish youth, now adults, start to experiment different ways of living and doing things socially. Ira had been feeling uncomfortable and confused living the Amish way of life. He did not know or feel as if 'this' life was for him. He had many questions about his Faith, and exactly what it meant to him. He went on many journeys seeking answers to his questions several times. When he would come back home, he would try to readjust and live the Amish way again, but he just could not do it for any length of time. Something was missing from his life; he felt a void. One of the lengthier times he came back home he tried dating. He was continually trying to find just what that void was.
    What did fill his void happened one day when he met a special man in another Amish community. This opened up a new way of thinking about faith for Ira and where he ends up going, doing and ending up. To pass this book up and not read this would be a loss for people who are curious of the Amish!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 4, 2013

    Insightful

    Message if hope can be found in the midst of the despair

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 28, 2013

    A great book

    .

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 11, 2013

    Authentic

    Growing up Amish myself this book caused mantears.

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  • Posted November 13, 2012

    must read

    I enjoyed this very much....how a young boy deals with being Amish... will read again next year....

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 26, 2012

    East Read

    Easy Read - Informative as to Amish lifestyle.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 13, 2012

    Growing up amlsh

    Excellent story of a journey of faith

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  • Posted October 5, 2012

    Very interesting

    If you've ever been curious about the Amish culture, this book is a great look inside it. You feel immersed in this man's decisions to leave the culture. You can feel his ambivalence and inner turmoil.

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