Growing Up Amish

A Memoir

By: Ira Wagler

Narrated by: Adam Verner

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.

©2012 eChristian Inc. (P)2012 eChristian, Inc.

Beautifully written

Informative about a people I know little about. Kind in every chapter. Heart warming ending. He is gifted in writing scenes. Narrator was excellent.

Great Story of True Redemption!

This is so well written. I thoroughly enjoyed how how true the store was. Unlike a predictable fiction novel, you are not sure what’s going to happen next.
It is narrated by one of my favorite performers Adam Verner, Adam has a lot more voices in his repertoire, but this book just required him to gently unfold the story with perfect rhythm.

Amish kid can’t decide if he’s Amish

I found the book interesting in that it gives a good insight into daily Amish life from a child’s perspective. A lot of people tend to believe that an Amish life is a “sweet and harmless” lifestyle. Truth is, the Amish often cover up crimes such as sexual abuse of children and women. The offender merely apologizes before the Church and all is forgiven! They are actually an insular group who cover up crimes and exploit children and women and refuse to go to the police when horrible crimes are committed. The storybook, peaceful life that they want you to believe doesn’t exist. The author of the book is a prime example of a father and mother ignoring what their child wants for their life and what “the Amish” want. Notice it’s not about Jesus Christ at all, it’s about TRADITION, the AMISH way, OBEDIENCE, what a load of nonsense! You either conform or you are banished, very Christlike behavior! Animal abuse is rampant, they don’t treat their animals well, don’t seek Veterinary care and their animals are killed by that neglect and abuse as the author states he did and his family did. Humans are not taken to medical treatment because they would have to answer questions about abuse and neglect. There is nothing in an Amish community to admire and this book just proves it.

Truth will set you free

A strong and endearing witness to a heart gripped with the pursuit of truth and finally found grasped by Truth. Compelling. Endearing. Highly recommended to all seekers of self and Christ.

VERY informative

love the narrator, the story was well written and informative. Really enjoyed I recommend it to anyone interested in Amish lifestyle The character sure had a hard time finding himself though!

My favorite book

I love this story and this man's heart. I can relate to his story even though I grew up in France Catholic and moving to the USA and giving my heart to Jesus in my early 30's. It's a story about the heart of man and being loved by God and loving God in spite of all man's rules and regulations. I also love this narrator and have found more books read by Adam Verner, he's my favorite

What a great insight about Amish life!

I was curious about Amish life; this book was very insightful. It tells the story of one man's experience in a very real way!

A must read (or listen!)

Where does Growing Up Amish rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Fairly high

Have you listened to any of Adam Verner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Narrator was quite nice to listen to.

Any additional comments?

I listen to audible books at work, as well as read traditionally at home. One of my recent Audible purchases was Growing up Amish: A Memoir by Ira Wagler which you can find on Amazon (just click the Amazon banner on the right hand side of my page and give it a click then search the title). Give the Audible book a go the narrator is great!

I've always been curious as to the Amish way of life due to the fact we have a healthy population of them (and other Anabaptist groups) here in Indiana and you'll regularly see them at the Zoo as well as around the towns surrounding Indianapolis. I even buy cheese and apple butter from them regularly but never really talk to them past doing business. This book gave me an adequate look into the Amish way of life.

I'll note that the book isn't a look at a typical Amish life as Ira was one that hardly questioned the lifestyle and left the community a handful of times. This however in itself is an interesting thing. You see raw emotion in this book, the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, you get to see a boy become a man and question the world he knows. You also see a man who still highly respects his family and the culture he came from, never portraying them in a bad light but simply telling it how it is.

My only complaint with the book is it has left me wanting to know more about Ira's post Amish life, although he does have an easily found blog which let me do just that! Check the book out!

Growing up Amish

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was time well-spent... teen angst in the midst of Amish life is a fascinating subject to me, and the author and narrator did a passible job of holding my interest

Would you be willing to try another book from Ira Wagler? Why or why not?

Probably not. This book could have had another few details about his post-Amish life... it dwelt a little too much on the yo-yoing back and forth between both worlds and really didn't touch much on his life after about 1988

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No... most biopics are either totally made up or boring as all get-out.

The Plain Life

Absolutely loved it. Brought out some memories I have of growing up in a similar setting. Thank you IRA for sharing your story. The part of you feeling the weight being lifted, loved it!! Keep up the awesome work!!! Can't wait for the next book