Jerry Eicher's childhood comes alive in his book My Amish Childhood.

My Amish Childhood: A True Story of Faith, Family, and the Simple Life by Jerry S. Eicher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book gave me great insight into many of Jerry Eicher's books, why his characters felt or acted in a certain way, it had to do with how his life was lived and his experiences. It was interesting to learn that this man who writes such great novels with words that are extremely descriptive used few words in his life. He suffers from a stuttering problem and chose to not speak rather than have people make fun of him. He also was an angry child due to the speech impediment that caused people to make fun of him or who would not wait for him to try to speak. To learn that he was caught on very few occasions while doing mean and angry things to get back at those who made fun of him, in a peace loving Amish community, is quite amazing. That he grew up in Honduras where the rules of his Amish church there were less strict than in the states gave me insight into why his Amish books vary from some of my other favorite authors. I remember the first Eicher book I read I was complaining to my husband how different the characters dressed and acted in his novel, now I know why, it was how he was raised in another country with different rules. I truly loved this book learning how his father rigged up lights in their yard to ward of thieves. I never knew that neighbors and friends of a different culture would steal from you without feeling any guilt at all. This is how life was in Honduras for Jerry Eicher. If you want to learn what it is like to live as a white Amish community member in a third world country, from first-hand experience, give this book a read.

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