Ira Wagler Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Ira Wagler

Ira Wagler is a Canadian writer known for his memoirs. A lot of his work focuses on his Amish upbringing, which he chose to leave at age seventeen. Later in life, he found his own path to God. He also worked to rebuild relationships with family members he had been separated from for many years.

As a writer, Wagler has several clear strengths. He does not just list facts or events. Instead, he finds small, true details that help a reader feel like they are right there in the scene. He brings people and places to life in a way that feels real and unforced. His writing informs without being dull and engages without being pushy.

He also has a real gift for building narratives that pull a reader along. The stories he tells are compelling because they feel honest and grounded. He paints a picture with simple words and straightforward moments. None of it feels made up or overdone, just a clear view of one person’s life and the hard, hopeful choices inside it.

Wagler connects with readers around the world by staying honest to his own voice. He does not try to write like someone else or follow what is popular at the moment. Instead, he writes the way he sees things, plain and straight. That kind of realness tends to travel well across different countries and cultures.

His stories come from a very specific background, the Amish world he once knew. But the feelings underneath, like leaving home, searching for meaning, and later repairing broken family ties, are not hard for most people to understand. Wagler lets those shared feelings do the work. He does not explain too much or push a message. He just shows what happened and how it felt, and readers from anywhere can find their own way into it.

What keeps people turning pages is the trust they feel with him as a writer. He never tries to be dramatic or fancy. He also never hides the hard parts of his past. That mix of being truthful and being steady makes his work feel like a quiet conversation with a friend. Readers from Tokyo to Toronto have said his memoirs feel both foreign and familiar at the same time. That is a rare thing to pull off, and he does it by writing exactly who he is.

Readers can likely expect more from Ira Wagler in the years ahead. He continues to write and share his perspective in the same straightforward way. His past shows a commitment to telling true stories without rushing or forcing them. So it seems fair to say his best work may still be on its way.

Early and Personal Life

Ira Wagler was born in 1961 in the Aylmer area of Ontario, Canada. He grew up inside a small Old Order Amish community in Tillsonburg. As a child and young man, he was not surrounded by many books or formal schooling, but that setting later shaped his desire to write.

At seventeen, Ira grew tired of the many rules in Amish life. He got up very early at two in the morning, left a short note beneath his pillow, packed one bag, and walked away. Over the next five years, he left and came back several times, feeling pulled between a fear of being lost forever and a wish for freedom in the outside world.

When Ira became a Christian at age twenty six, he made the final break from his Amish past. That turning point gave him a new sense of purpose and a clear reason to tell his story. Today he works as a general manager for two companies in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his own life has become the quiet inspiration behind his writing.

Writing Career

Ira Wagler began his writing career with smaller projects before any of his books came out. He put together a church newsletter called the Chestnut Street Connection and kept it going until February 2007. Around that same time, he also wrote a handful of general interest essays for other readers.

His first book, Growing Up Amish, arrived in 2011. He followed that with Broken Roads: Returning to My Amish Father in 2020. A later title, The Way It Was: True Life Amish Stories, was released in 2025, and he continues to write.

Broken Roads

Ira Wagler wrote the memoir “Broken Roads.” FaithWords released this book on May 12, 2020, providing a biography of Wagler’s life.

Here Wagler shares his own story to shine a light on life inside the Amish world. He talks about leaving that life and then feeling pulled back toward his Amish father. The book looks at whether the two of them can fix their broken bond before time runs out. Wagler also touches on bigger questions about belief and who we are, questions that matter to many people whether they grew up Amish or not.

Readers here will find themselves caring about the author’s tough choices. The book handles hard family topics without being heavy or sad. It feels honest and clear from start to finish. Anyone who likes real life stories will likely enjoy this one.

Growing Up Amish

The memoir “Growing Up Amish” was written by Ira Wagler. Tyndale House Publishers released this book on July 1, 2011.

One night with no stars, Ira Wagler got up at two in the morning when he was seventeen. He left a short note under his pillow, packed a small black bag, and walked away from his Amish home in Bloomfield, Iowa. In this memoir, he shows what Amish life looked like, from childhood farm days to his Rumspringa at sixteen, and finally his choice to leave the church for good at twenty six. This is a true story about one person looking for who he is and where he fits in the world.

Everyone will find this story easy to follow and hard to put down. The author shares his past without making it feel heavy or sad. It gives a clear look at a world most people never see. Anyone who likes honest memoirs will likely enjoy this one.