Growing Up Amish. Insider Secrets from One Woman's Inspirational Journey

Customer Reviews

Not worth the paper it was printed on!

2008-05-16
Seeing that this book had received a 5 star review, I assumed it would be very good and informative. I was completely wrong. The book itself, does not specifically address her amish upbringings. She speaks of her own issues with her parents and siblings who used to tease her for being overweight. Honestly, there was nothing different about her experience that differed so greatly from the average American's. If one wasn't aware the author was writing about the Amish, they would have no basis to assume differently. Also, the book itself was very poorly edited. She would be speaking in 3rd person and then suddenly jump to first. Same thing with active and passive voice. And don't get me started on the number of times she used apostrophes incorrectly.
All this having been said, this book is written at the level of a 3rd grader, however the material is in no way appropriate for that age group. I believe Ms. Olson had only the best intentions in writing this book but needed help getting her message across which she did not receive. If an editor could get their hands on this book and help her flesh out her ideas, I think this book could be greatly improved.

Anna Dee Olson: A woman of great heart and character

2008-05-05
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R28IMD1VVRFT04 Anna Olson spent her youth in the Amish culture, with no electricity or indoor plumbing. She made the tough difficult decision to leave the only life she knew to uprsue her dreams. many in her community turned against her, but Anna kept the best of her Amish heritage with her in her new life. Now she brings the best of both cultures into her writing, speaking, and coaching. She is a dynamic and inspirational speaker who deeply cares about helping people become their best possible self.

This book is full of heart and soul and great guidance.
Ronda Del Boccio
best-selling co-author of I'll Push, You Steer: The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through Life with Blinders On

Where was the editor for this book? Terrible!

2008-07-21
I was so disappointed with this book. It reads like she is talking to you in person, complete with grammatical and spelling errors galore. The publisher of this book (Morgan James Publishing) ought to apologize to it's readers. Was there even an editor for this publication?

The layout is worse. The "chapters" are sectioned out with maybe 2-3 pages each. There is no reason to title each area the way that they do. She repeats herself over and over on various subjects & tries to hard to describe her feelings with words she clearly doesn't know how to properly use.

Personally, I want my money back.

If you want a real look into the day to day Amish lifestyle, don't buy this book. Instead, buy Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish by Joe Mackall. Now THAT is an excellent, well written book.

not worth the money it cost

2008-07-04
i am sorry i wasted my money. it is not worth what i paid for it. very dull and boring

The Gift was a Big Hit!

2008-05-31
This book was a gift for Mother's Day. It arrived in a timely manor and was in perfect shape. The price was very reasonable and since it was hard to find in book stores locally, was very convenient to be delivered to my home. I buy many books and products from Amazon and will continue to do so. With gas prices as they are, it will be that more and more gifts and personal items will be purchased this way... Thanks. ck

Not at all pleased!

2008-05-25
This is NOT a story at all. This is just little tidbits about her feeling fat during her time as amish. There was more "lessons on how not to treat your own children this way," than really telling a story about her life. The book was way overpriced and there were Many misspellings.

Not my favorite!

2008-05-20
Being a teacher I had a difficult time reading this book. The grammatical and spelling errors were quite a distraction. It was not at all what I had hoped for. I read a lot of Amish fiction and wanted to know more of the factual information about this group.