The Fifteenth Commandment

It is the summer of 1965, and seventeen-year-old Nick Baarda is under pressure from his religious sect to conform to its rigid rules of behavior, including prohibitions on ＂worldly＂ activities like dancing and going to movies. On the other hand, Nick and his best friends are determined to enjoy modern life to the fullest, and they devise their own Commandment to give themselves free rein. They also plan to leave town the following year when they graduate from their parochial high school. When a new minister arrives, he makes it clear that he intends to keep the boys firmly under his thumb, and this sets in motion an extended contest of wills. Complicating things is the pastor’s daughter, who becomes Nick’s intellectual soulmate while not reciprocating his romantic overtures. The result for Nick is a roller coaster of infatuation and frustration, while he and the other boys share raucous adventures and deal with sex, conflict, and calamity. Through it all, Nick wrestles with the quirks and hypocrisy he sees in his religion, and as graduation nears, he is forced to decide whether he will stay or break free.

Steve Sieberson grew up in a town much like the New Holland, Iowa, of this book. He is the author of The Naked Mountaineer - Misadventures of an Alpine Traveler, and Low Mountains or High Tea - Misadventures in Britain’s National Parks. He has worked as an international lawyer in Seattle and as a law professor at Creighton University. He currently lives in a small village on Puget Sound.