Amish teenager, Noah Hochstetler, struggles with his father's religious piety and his expectation that his oldest son will be a farmer, find a wife, and raise a large family like everyone else in the community. Instead, Noah wants to continue his education, join the Army, and see what lies beyond the rural community that has sheltered him all his life. Defying his father's wishes for him to live a life separate from the outside world, the prodigal son leaves home with high hopes, only to be met with violence and abuse that will alter the direction of his life forever. On the run from the law, while traveling across Canada, Noah begins to question his decision to leave home, a place that he might never see again.

After moving to New Mexico in 2011, Daniel Landes read about an itinerant man living in the Jemez Mountains near Albuquerque, who was breaking into cabins and stealing people's clothing, tools, and food. The vagabond, who had a fondness for baked goods and especially cookies, was quickly labeled The Cookie Bandit by the media.

This thief's proclivity for stealing cookies precipitated a plot point in the book and the eventual novella's title, The Amish Cookie Bandit.