From Plain to Plane: My Mennonite Childhood, A National Scandal, and an Unconventional Soar to Freedom

Patty Bear grew up among the "Plain People" amidst bountiful farmlands, black bonnets, and black cars. It was a world unto itself, both bucolic and beastly, with traditions and beliefs from the old world deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Central Pennsylvania.

Insulated by a culture that steadfastly kept its distance from outsiders and the march of progress, as a little girl she anticipated following in her mother's footsteps. But in 1972, at the age of eight, her father sparked religious ...