Have you ever felt completely out of place? What about at school?
Welcome to Esther's world. The only Amish child her age in the neighborhood, she is forced to attend the public school with all the strange children. Even worse, her father faces jail time if he does not send her, whether she likes it or not. Esther would rather stay at home on the farm, helping with the gardens, chickens, housework and doing her lessons with Aunt Rachel. But the state of Pennsylvania has other ideas and Esther must obey her parents.
Once in her new school, Esther finds children who wear colorful clothes, are mean to each other, discuss bad topics and all manner of other terrible things in her world. Standing out as she does, she knows she won't make any friends and after the experiences of her older brother, Dan, she isn't sure she wants to make English friends.
But as most children know, fitting in can be ever so important. So, as Esther struggles to find herself, she sees sides of the English world that do not seem so bad. Will her beliefs be deeply challenged or will she find out who she is without being forced to make serious changes to fit in?
Helping Esther through her trials at home and at school are her parents, her Aunt Rachel who lives with them, and her new friend Mary who is learning to accept Esther for who she is.
A great story with a message of acceptance, responsibility, obedience and tolerance.
Age 8 to 12
Sorenson, V. (1955). Plain Girl. New York: Odyssey Classics/Harcourt Publishing, Inc.
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