"The Miting" by Dee Yoder

Book Description: Leah is seventeen and Amish. Like many her age, she has lots of questions, but the temporary flight of freedom known as rumspringen is not the answer for her. She does not desire Englisher fashion, all-night parties, movies, or lots of boyfriends. Leah is seeking to understand her relationship with God, to deepen and broaden her faith by joining a Bible study hosted by an ex-Amish couple. She wants to know why Amish life is the only lifestyle her family accepts, why the church has so many rules, and . . . most disturbing, how godly men can allow her best friend to be abused in her own home. In the pressure-cooker environment of church and family, Leah is not allowed to ask these questions. When finally she reaches the breaking point, she walks away from the Old Order Amish life that is all she has known. Though adapting amiably to the Englisher world, Leah is tormented with homesickness. Returning to the community, however, entails a journey of pain and sorrow Leah could never have imagined. The miting—shunning—that will now be Leah’s unendurable oppression every day is beyond her most devoted attempts to believe or understand. All the bishop and her family ask is that she abandon her practice of reading the Bible. Is that a price she is willing to pay?

My Review: 
"The Miting" by Dee Yoder is most assuredly five stars, I would give it ten stars if I could!

"The miting" is not like a lot of others that I've read in the fact that it doesn't it always paint a pretty picture, it paints a human one. Filled with ups and downs, trials and errors. It's a very good story, painting a truthful picture. It shows the humanness in us all and shows that although our cultures may be so diverse, the reality is that we are all more alike than we realize. This book has made me realize that the Amish that we Englishers adore aren't always the real picture.

While reading this book, there were moments I was yelling at the characters in the story, " are you for real and how can you do that to your daughter and church member and friend?
This book made me cry and then it made me want to hug Leah and another character, Martha, and then once again I wanted to yell at the characters.

"The Miting" kept me turning it's pages because I had to know how things worked out for Martha and the ending has me anxiously waiting for the next book! I was surprised at the way it ended for both Martha and Leah.

I encourage you to read " The Miting" and see the all too often "real" picture of the Amish. But be prepared to be shocked!

Author's Info:

Dee Yoder's fiction is based on the lives of her former-Amish friends. She is actively involved in the Mission to Amish People ministry as a mentor, volunteer, and author. In addition to writing over eighty short stories, her coming-of-age novel, The Powerful Odor of Mendacity, won the FaithWriters Page Turner contest in 2011. Dee lives in central Ohio.