A People Apart (A Nick Harris Book) - Hardcover

Andrew Stawicki's affecting, well-chosen black-and-white photographs, which reflect the graceful tranquility of the community as its people work, play, and worship. Even the book design is well thought out. Warm white pages and a spacious layout welcome browsing, and the fetching photographs, looking every bit as if they were taken decades ago, invite children to stay and read.

Kathleen Kenna who "attended a Mennonite church as a child," shows great respect for the Mennonite way.

Gr. 4^-8. It may be simple inquisitiveness about the black-and-white photo on the dust jacket that impels children to pick up this book. But Kenna and Stawicki provide much more than a curiosity seeker's view of the Mennonite community. Their photo-essay is a heartfelt, understanding profile of a rarely photographed people who live a life in which time seems to have stood still. Kenna, who "attended a Mennonite church as a child," shows great respect for the Mennonite way--its selfless dedication to community, its discipline, its striving for peace--but she also acknowledges the ongoing battle, the contradictions and pressures, that come with "being in the world, but not of the world." Letting the people often speak for themselves, she introduces some Old Order Mennonites who talk about their history, traditions, growing up, and daily lives. We learn how they feel about what they do and how they feel about who they are. In perfect accord with the text are Stawicki's affecting, well-chosen black-and-white photographs, which reflect the graceful tranquility of the community as its people work, play, and worship. Even the book design is well thought out. Warm white pages and a spacious layout welcome browsing, and the fetching photographs, looking every bit as if they were taken decades ago, invite children to stay and read. Stephanie Zvirin