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February 9, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS

#FSYALit Discussion Index/Hub

February 9, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS   7 comments

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)”

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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
  • GLBTQ YA and Issues of Faith, a guest post by Robert Bittner
  • The Distance Between Lost and Found, part 1: Wilderness Survival and Youth Group Culture (Ally Watkins)
  • The Distance Between Lost and Found, part 2: Sex, Power, Politics and The Church (Karen Jensen)
  • Catholicism in YA lit by Katie Behrens
  • Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle, a book discussion
  • Author Tessa Gratton talks faith and spirituality in YA fantasy
  • Author Bryan Bliss post on NO PARKING AT THE END TIMES (We can’t be afraid of honest questions)
  • Librarian Jen Leitch discusses PURITY by Jackson Pearce
  • Amanda MacGregor on WHAT IF I’M AN ATHEIST?
  • Girls Like Me Don’t: Thoughts on Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally, a guest post by Katelyn Browne
  • #FSYALit Roundtable Part I and Part II
  • Doubt and the Teenage Religious Experience, Reflections on EDEN WEST by Pete Hautman (a post by Ally Watkins)
  • Orthodox Representation in YA Lit, a guest post by Maureen Eichner
  • Hinduism in YA Lit: A #FSYALit Guest Post by Shveta Thakrar
  • Hidden Things: A #FSYALit discussion of the book CONVICTION
  • I Was a Sixteen Year-Old Jesus Freak (Just Not In the Way You Think) a guest post by Terra Elan McVoy
  • Kaye M, Muslim representation in YA lit
  • Writing Religion When it’s Not Your Own, a guest post by Melissa Walker
  • They Still Break Girls, Don’t They: A Reflection on THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY for #FSYALit
  • DEVOTED: Religion, Feminism, and the Case for Compassion , a #FSYALit guest post by author Corey Ann Haydu
  • The Faith of The Girl of Fire and Thorns
  • Jewish LGBTQ Books for a Synagogue Collection, a guest post by Jill Ratzan
  • Mormon Representation in YA Lit
  • Freedom From Religion: A #FSYALit discussion of Burned and the Choice to Walk Away, a guest post by Sarah Alexander

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/
  •  http://www.lizburns.org/2009/02/what-about-catholics.html
Hinduism in YA Lit
  • Hinduism in YA Lit
Judaism in YA Lit
  •  Jewish Themed YA Lit, Not About the Holocaust
  •  The Hub: Judaism in YA Lit
  •  Great Books for—and about—Jewish LGBTQ Teens
    http://www.myjewishlearning.com/keshet/great-books-for-and-about-jewish-lgbtq-teens
  • Jewish LGBTQ Books for a Synagogue Collection, a guest post by Jill Ratzan
Mormon Representation in YA Lit
  • Mormon Representation in YA Lit
  • Freedom From Religion: A #FSYALit discussion of Burned and the Choice to Walk Away, a guest post by Sarah Alexander
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
Protestant 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)
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.

Filed under: #FSYALit, Faith, Spiritual Life, Spirituality

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About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

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July 2015

Dark Shadows in a Glittering Metropolis: Magic and Religion in Jaclyn Dolamore’s Dark Metropolis Series (a guest post for #FSYALit)

by Karen Jensen, MLS

July 2015

The Faith of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a #FSYALit guest post with author interview

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DEVOTED: Religion, Feminism, and the Case for Compassion , a #FSYALit guest post by author Corey Ann Haydu

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They Still Break Girls, Don't They: A Reflection on THE SACRED LIES OF MINNOW BLY for #FSYALit

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Comments

  1. L. N. Holmes says

    March 19, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Thank you for discussing religion in YA. As a Christian, I was worried about how few titles I could find. Now I have a lot more options because of your research. I’m also excited to see marginalised groups represented. Religion is so often overlooked because it is a difficult and complicated topic. But there are people everywhere worshipping every day and it is wrong to ignore that aspect of some people’s lives. I also love interfaith discussions and respect Atheists and Agnostics (although I obviously don’t agree with their beliefs).

    Brilliant work!

    • Karen Jensen, TLT says

      March 19, 2015 at 10:23 pm

      Thank you very much! We have many people writing a great number of interesting posts and we are really excited about this series. We appreciate your comment, it’s always nice to know that you aren’t screaming into the void as they say. And as a Christian I very much want to learn more about other faiths and have some ideas of good titles that I can confidentaly share with my teens.

  2. C. A. Schmidt says

    August 29, 2015 at 10:22 am

    I’m so thrilled to find this discussion going on. As an author and teacher, the question of faith in YA lit has been on my mind a lot these days, and I’m thrilled to see a serious conversation about young adult faith in the broader sense, crossing not just different religions but also different spiritual paths. I look forward to participating!

Trackbacks

  1. Talking about religion… | Proper Noun Blog says:
    March 3, 2015 at 9:51 pm

    […] have been eagerly following the discussion of Faith and Spirituality in YA Lit going on at Teen Librarian Toolbox.  I haven’t been talking about religion very much anymore […]

  2. Another Important Discussion for Diversifying Literature: Religion in YA | A Vase of Wildflowers says:
    March 19, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    […] it was embraced in a positive way, where people created art around these values and ideas. The Faith and Spirituality in YA Lit series (#FSYALit) is a brilliant and open discussion of literature for people of multiple faiths that simultaneously […]

  3. My Review at the School Library Journal | A Vase of Wildflowers says:
    August 2, 2015 at 8:10 pm

    […] found on the Teen Librarian Toolbox blog at the School Library Journal website. It is part of the #FSYALit project. I’d love to hear your feedback and I always appreciate it when you share my work. As always, […]

  4. For the Love: No Parking At The End Times by Bryan Bliss | Mr. Isom Writes says:
    December 18, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    […] get benched, particularly in the game of YA. Theories abound as to why (here’s a link to smart people discussing this subject at length), but as both a child of faith and a compulsive, […]

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