Captioned color photos and text examine the customs, lifestyle, and history of the Amish, Old Order Mennonites and Hutterites, known collectively as the Plain people.
Amish farmer Enos Erb asks history professor Michael Branden to investigate the death of his brother, which he believes was a murder, and the amateur sleuth finds links between the Amish case and the apparent suicide of a college student.
Naomi, an Amish girl whose elders have impressed upon her the importance of adhering to the simple ways of her people, is horrified when one of her hen eggs hatches into an extremely fancy bird.
The authors write of their experiences as teacher and researcher on Amish education answering such questions as why do the Amish have their own schools, what are the goals of the schools, how are teachers chosen, what type of curriculum materials are used, and what happens with children with special needs?.
Includes a history of the Amish, their general doctrines, practices, social structure, place in American society, changes in beliefs, and issues facing them in modern society.
In 1849, a fourteen-year-old Amish girl defies convention by leaving her secure home in Pennsylvania to accompany her father across the continent by wagon train.
