Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy

David L. Weaver-Zercher, Donald B. Kraybill, and Steven M. Nolt

Jossey-Bass, 2007

Award of Merit, Christianity Today 2008 Book Awards

Publishers Weekly 150 Best Books of 2007

In October 2006, a non-Amish gunman entered a small Amish school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and proceed to shoot ten Amish girls, killing five of them. In the midst of their deep grief, the Nickel Mines Amish community surprised the world by offering grace to the gunman’s family and forgiveness to the gunman himself. The award-winning Amish Grace tells that story and explains the Amish response which, to them, was simply the right thing to do.

“Remarkable….this anguished and devastating account of a national tragedy is itself a marvel of grace.” – Booklist, Starred Review

“A superb book—a model of clear, forceful writing about a tragedy and its aftermath.” – National Catholic Reporter

“In plain and beautiful prose, Amish Grace recounts the Amish witness and connects it to the heart of their spirituality.” – Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

“Covers the subject in a superb way. It gave me a private tutorial in Amish culture and religion.” – Fred Luskin, Director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects