It began as a casual conversation over Twitter, but YA Librarian Ally Watkins and I decided that we really wanted to explore and discuss issues of faith and the spiritual lives of teens in YA literature, thus the #FSYALit Project was born. And as part of our initial research we found some interesting background information:

“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.” But having a spiritual life does not automatically translate to evangelical Christian. For example, 1% of the U.S. population is Muslim, another 1% is Buddhist and around 2% are Jewish. 16% are unsure or identify as Atheist. (Source: Pew Research Statistics on Religious and Public Life Project ; Child Trends Research Brief on Spirituality and Religiosity Among Youth)”

We want to talk about the spiritual lives of teens in YA lit in a meaningful way and compile a good list of resources for those who love, work with, or serve teens, but we can’t do it alone. You can join the discussion. Whether it be sharing your thoughts on a book or compiling a list, we hope that you’ll join us in this discussion.

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 in YA literature Posts: Faith and Spirituality in YA Lit: A Discussion (Introductory Post) YA Librarians Ally Watkins and Karen Jensen Discuss Faith and Spirituality in YA Lit, part 1 Because you gotta have faith Top 10 Titles: ‘Cause You Gotta Have Faith A discussion of faith and science in Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande 2/19 – Bryan Bliss post on NO PARKING AT THE END TIMES
2/26 – Laila Alawa, Muslim representation in YA lit 2/27 – Katie Behrens, Catholicism in YA lit 3/6 – Kaye M post on Muslim representation in YA lit
3/19 – Melissa Walker post on Catholicism in YA lit 4/6 – Tessa Gratton guest post 4/9 – Kelly Gilbert, author of CONVICTION
5/4 – Terra Elan McVoy, author of PURE
Resources:

Including additional book lists, discussions and more – a resource list in progress.

Pratt Picks: Teen Spirits: Novels About Faith

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

Don’t Talk About What? Religions Place in YA Fiction (TLA)

Agnosticism and Atheism:

The Hub: Atheism and Agnosticism in YA

Books for Atheist Teens

What if I’m an Atheist?

Buddhism:

The Hub: Buddhism in YA

Catholic Fiction:

http://www.catholic-fiction.com/genres/young-adult-teen/

http://www.catholicmom.com/youth_books.htm

http://lifeteen.com/catholic-summer-book-list/ Christian Fiction: Stacked: Get Genrefied: Christian Fiction Why Aren’t There More Teens Reading Christian Fiction? Slate: How Christian YA Novels are Offering a Surprisingly Empowering Guide to Adolescence (2010) Hinduism in YA Lit: Judaism in YA Lit: Jewish Themed YA Lit, Not About the Holocaust The Hub: Judaism in YA Lit Muslim Representation in YA Lit: Muslim Teen Reads: Top 10 Teen Reads Rebels by Accident: Telling Muslim Girls’ Stories in YA Fiction Where are All the Muslim Characters in Children’s Fiction? Teen Fiction with Muslim Heroes The Hub: Diversity in YA Lit: Muslim Teens Kirkus Books About Muslim Teens We need your help building our resource guide! Have a book list or blog post you want to see included? Please email us a link at kjensenmls at yahoo dot com.