‘Tis the season of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. But did you know it’s also the season of Ashura, an optional fast day for Muslims, Bodhi Day when Buddhists recall that Siddhartha Gautama vowed to sit under a tree and not to rise until he was enlightened, and Yalda, the Zoroastrian celebration of the winter solstice?
In this time when religion divides us more often than it unites us, it is especially important to promote religious tolerance. And what better place to start than with young adult books. But while there have been great strides in making YA more diverse, there is still room for more diversity when it comes religion.
- Reading about other religions can be life changing, so why are there only a handful of young adult novels that seriously address the religious life of teenagers.
- This writer wonders why “almost every YA book I read barely mentions religion” when religion and spiritual questions are such a big part of so many people’s lives.
- If you’re looking for reading suggestions “from ridicule to rapture, follow these teens as they experience religion socially, politically and spiritually.”
- Learning about someone else’s religion was life changing for this writer who shares some books that reflect how it felt to question and seek answers.
- Interested in writing a YA novel about religion? Check out these four commandments for making religion in teen books work.
Do you know of any good YA novels that address the religious life of teens?