this is the book I won from goodreads.com and Is a first reads book
this is a good book to read
it is about the author Shirley Hershey Showalter. she grew up in a plain Mennonite home. this memoir tells the story of a Mennonite girl who might have left the church but found another way ( )

This is the author's story about what it was like to grow up as a sheltered Mennonite girl with big dreams in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, as her family and church dealt with all of the cultural changes of the 50's and 60's. The author writes with gentle humor and affection about her years of growing up, and finally, being the first of her family to go to college.

She also tells the story of her parents when they grew up; her mother had her own unfulfilled dreams of being an actress and a writer, and was a bit of a rebel herself as a young adult; for example, going against the bishop's rules on her wedding day and wearing white (and opened toed!) shoes on her wedding day.

I really enjoyed this book, and learning something about Mennonite culture that was different than what I had read in fictional stories. As the author points out, Mennonites are not just "Amish with cars and electricity", and each Mennonite community has their differences from each other, as per their rules and how strict they are, just as Amish communities differ from one another.

I really enjoyed this memoir, and I found it fascinating and hard to put down once I started reading it. I appreciated also that the author included several photographs throughout the book of her and her family, and at the end of the book, a few family recipes. ( )

this is the book I won from goodreads.com and Is a first reads book
this is a good book to read
it is about the author Shirley Hershey Showalter. she grew up in a plain Mennonite home. this memoir tells the story of a Mennonite girl who might have left the church but found another way ( )