Project

goals

To facilitate a discussion about the

ways various faiths are (or are not)
represented in YA literature.
To examine specific titles and create
lists of titles that those wanting to
look for titles with diverse
representations of faith can add to
their collections (or buy for the teens
in their lives)
To include a wide variety of voices on
the topic of the spiritual lives of teens

Project HUB:
http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2015
/02/fsyalit-discussion-indexhub
/

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What youll find:

Book Reviews
Book Lists
Articles on Stats,
Current Events,
Etc.
Resources like
curriculums,

Some parameters:
We purposefully sought in our discussion to
look beyond books that were specifically
written by a faith based publisher. For example,
Zondervan or Tyndale House. However, if you
Google Judaism and Teen Fiction or Islam
and Teen Fiction, you can find lists and
publishing houses that specifically fill that
niche.
Our focus was on representation among the
bigger publishing houses to discuss the ways in
which this aspect of teen life is incorporated
into both contemporary and more mainstream
YA literature.
We also actively sought the outside
participation of people who identified as a
member of a faith group to discuss
representation and titles in that faith category.

What do
we mean
by faith &

Faith, Religio
n and
Spirituality M
ean
Diferent Thi
ngs to
Diferent Peo
ple

Source: http://
www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/e
nhance-your-wellbeing/purpose/
spirituality/what-spirituality

Good young adult literature

comes at a story with
unflinching honesty. How
else can you honor the
questions that teenagers
live? Bryan Bliss

What
Do
Teens

Why?
When discussing the spiritual lives of teens the
Barna Group notes that, Teenagers are
consistently among the most religiously active
Americans, with nearly 6 out of every 10 teens
engaged in some type of group spiritual
activity in a typical week.
80% of all decisions for Christ happens in the
teenage years. This is a huge period of
investigation into and adoption of a personal belief
system.
On most of the measured criteria, Mormon youths
whose church runs daily high school religion
classes were the most engaged in practicing
their faith, followed in order by evangelical
Protestants, black Protestants, mainline
Protestants, Catholics and Jews. (Source: http://
www.nbcnews.com/id/7019023/ns/us_news/t/study-mo

According to David Barrett et al, editors of the "World Christian Encyclopedia: A

comparative survey of churches and religions - AD 30 to 2200," there are 19 major
world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups, and
many smaller ones. 34,000 separate Christian groups have been identified in the
world. "Over half of them are independent churches that are not interested in
linking with the big denominations." (source:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm)

The
Takeaway

If we want to
truly
serve our tee
ns, we
must recogn
ize
how many di
ferent
fAdditional
aith sresources:
y
s
tems the
rePublic L
Research Statistics on Religious
and
ife Project
a

u
o
y
e
s
u
a
c
e
e
v
a
B
h
a
t
t
go ith?
fa
Religion slightly more
important for 8Th graders
than 10th graders
Religion is more
important among female
adolescents than among
male adolescents.
Religion is more
important among black
high school students than
among white high school
students.
Source:
http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uplo

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-less-

What
About the
Books?

The worst thing a story

about religion can do is
turn honest questions into
simple plot pieces.
Bryan Bliss

Whats Out There?

Search Terms:
atheism OR atheist OR agnosticism OR
agnostic: 90 books
buddhism OR buddhist: 2,372
Christianity (without "christian" because it
searches for the name, also): 66,186
hinduism OR hindu: 3,091
islam OR muslim: 8,274
Judaism OR Jewish: 14,410

Holdings
Atheism
Hinduism

Buddhism
Islam

Christianity
Judaism

We searched Worldcat to see what types of

books were being published in the
Juvenile/Youth Services market. Heres what
we found.

Various Religions Searched in Worldcat Juvenile Holdings

70000
60000
50000
40000

0%
3%
15%

30000
20000

9%

10000

3%

0
70%

Seidman notes that 15-20% of all

adult Americans have no religion
(so 36 million plus people), but
self-declared atheists only make
up less than 3% of the American
population.

What if Im an Atheist?

Buddhism

This one was the hardest ones for us, repeated calls for a
guest blogger came up empty and searches found very few
titles
A case for dont
judge a book by its
cover.

This b
ook is
no
about
Buddh t
ism

Catholici
sm
Karen
is n
Catho ot
lic,
but sh
e l o ve
s
2 book these
s

We all want characters

that present faith in a
positive light, no matter
what we believe, but the
reality is that lived faith
is messy. Katie
Behrens

A power-hungry, corrupt priest is a

stereotype, no question. Is there
corruption in the priesthood?
Unfortunately yes theyre humans
just like us. But that seems to be the
only role they play in stories (Im
looking at you, Dan Brown), and its
become a tired trope.
Katie Behrens

Christianity Protestant

Some common topics:

Keeping faith in the light of serious testing or struggles
Balancing sexual desire with spiritual beliefs
Making the faith taught by your parents your own

Hinduism

Worldwide, the Hindu population is projected to rise by 34

per cent over the period, from a little over 1 billion to nearly
1.4 billion, roughly keeping pace with overall population
growth, the report noted. Source: The Hindu.com

When I was a teen, I would

have given anything for
characters who looked like
me with names like mine,
who grew up in the West
but with Hindu rituals and
beliefs shaping our lives in
overt and subtle waysso I
would have known I was
okay and important, too.
Shveta Thakrar
Believe it or not, Dimpleand I
would believe itI am just a regular
person who has decided to be who I
am in life. Thats all.

Islamic/Muslim
Representation

So, are there any books about girls

like you that you could recommend?
. . . there was a definite point in
my childhood when I
acknowledged and realized that
there was an empty space on the
shelves where I couldnt find
myself. = Kaye M.

Islam, particularly in recent years, has been misunderstood

and warped by the representation it receives in media. It is
one of the worlds largest religions, but when I strike up a
conversation with an average stranger (mind you, usually
started of the phrase, Arent you hot? or Does your father
make you wear that?), Im always saddened to find that they
know little to nothing about my faith beyond what they
believe it is about, thanks to the actions of extremists who
use it for their own evil agendas.
Im firmly in the camp that bad representation is worse than
no representation at all. Ive been facing its efects for my
entire life. In YA representation, we have the dubious pleasure
of hardly being represented at all, but Ive always been tired

Judaism

Things to the look for:

Books that portray contemporary life, there tends to be a
focus on Holocaust fiction

There is a list
of Jewish GNs
on Good reads

Mormon
Representation

Today there is no shortage of Mormon authors

publishing young adult books for mainstream
audiences. Some of these are best-selling
authors and well-known names: Shannon Hale.
Kiersten White. James Dashner. Allie Condie.
Brandon Sanderson. Jessica Day George.
Stephanie Meyer. The list goes on. But whats
the pattern here? The majority of Mormon
authors publishing with national presses (not the
niche-Mormon ones) write fantasy or science
fiction stories which do not feature Mormonism.
Sam Taylor

I appreciate its
depictions of a wellrounded Mormon
young woman who
loves her faith even
as she strives to
separate herself
from stereotypes.

I appreciated this
book for the diversity
of characters Wing
depictsall Mormon,
but from diferent
class and ethnic
backgrounds, as
Mormons are!

thodox Representation
These two books make mention of the
Orthodox faith, but our guest blogger
Maureen Eichner found them to be
inadequate representation

And, let m
e just be q
uite blunt
there is no
here:
one like m
e
ever read.
in any sto
ry Ive
There are
very, very
books with
few
Orthodox
c
h
especially
aracters a
in YA.* An
t all,
d in the fe
instances
w
where Ort
hodoxy fe
tends to b
atures, it
e portraye
d
a
mysteriou
s an exoti
s religion,
c,
stuck in th
Priests are
e past.
often desc
ribed as ra
crows, or
vens or
as being s
c
a
ry and cre
Maureen E
epy.
ichner

GLBTQ Teens in Religious

Fiction

Novels of reconciliation are those in which the protagonist

was able to find a way to make their queerness fit within the
framework of Christianity, which novels of abandonment
often rely on a rhetoric in which Christianity is a polar opposite
to queer identity and the two can never be a part of one single
identity construct. Robert Bittner

But wait, theres more

A life of faith
acknowledged in
a book not about
faith.

Faith and
Feminism

Faith in Fantasy
Cults

What Do
We Do as
Librarians?

What If Its a Faith I Know

Nothing About?
Devorah is a consummate good girl who has never
challenged the ways of her strict Hasidic upbringing.

This is the book that started the discussion for me. I

found this to be a moving and feminist story about a
teen girl trying to balance her faith beliefs with her
desire to act in ways that may be outside of her faith
system. The question for me was: Is this an accurate
representation of the Hasidic faith?
What I did:
Read reviews (more than normal)
Asked other readers who practice this faith on social
media
So what happened?
I got mixed feedback. Some people thought it was a

The Takeaway
We need to do our
due diligence. We
also have to
recognize that no two

What Are My Concerns as

a Librarian?
Finding YA titles that avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes
Finding YA titles that authentically represent a faith I may not be familiar
with
Creating a collection that represents the diversity of faiths that teens
practice
Noting any personal bias so that I may keep it in check when building
collections or interacting with teens

Motto: Its Not About

Me

When working with teens, it is the teens needs, wants and beliefs that matter, not
mine.
As a public or school librarian, my job is to be a neutral party that provides access
to information. (Though a private religious school is probably the exception.)
This is not the time or place to proselytize or convert.
When asked respectfully by teens, I do answer questions about my personal faith
when appropriate.

Investigate
Empower
Diversify

Practice Conscious Collection Development

Periodically check to make sure you have titles in your
collection to represent ALL faiths, including atheism
Have a well developed collection development policy to
guide staf in selecting titles
Look for professional reviews by members of the faith
community discussed in a book to see if there are any
problematic stereotypes, tropes or biases
Develop relationships with ALL teens in your
community and
ask them!
Create safe spaces
Have a code of conduct for staf and patrons
Post your code of conduct so that expectations are
clear
Train staf about the issues and how to respond if
complaints are made
Enforce your code of conduct. If any derogatory
remarks are
made, follow your librarys protocol to
make sure teens feels safe in your library
Consider Programs and Displays
Am I alienating a part of the community?
Am I providing balance and representation?

Help Your Teens

Walk in Someone
Elses Shoes

Pratt Picks: Teen Spirits: Novels About Faith

Resources

Diversity 101: Religion in YA

The Hub: Though Shalt Not Religion and Teen Books
Are You There, God? The Mysterious Disappearance of Religion in YA Fiction
Interview: Sara Zarr on YA Fiction and adolescence as a crisis of faith
The Brown Bookshelf: Faith in Fiction
YA Highway: The Intersection of Faith and Fiction
ALAN: Spiritual Themes in YA Fiction
Why Are We AFraid of Religion in YA Books?
The Reading Shelf: Discussion: Religion in YA
Dont Talk About What? Religions Place in YA Fiction (TLA)

Why Arent There More Teens Reading Christian Fiction?

Slate: How Christian YA Novels are Offering a Surprisingly Empowering Guide to Adolescence

Thank you to all our guest bloggers!