YA Religion and Religious Issues

I haven't read too many books with religious themes.  I can't say why, I just haven't.  These books, at least in my library, are really gaining in popularity, though.  We live in a pretty conservative area, so lots of teens (or their parents) come in looking for specifically Christian fiction.  I'm not one to only buy Christian fiction, however, so we have lots of books from other religious perspectives as well.

As teens are exploring their faiths and finding out how they feel about it all, it is good for them to have books to bounce these ideas off of.  For those who are already very secure in their faith, I imagine it is nice to see characters that reflect their ideas.

First off, let me say that I adore this cover.  I think whoever chose it did an excellent job.  It is both literal and symbolic at the same time and I simply love it.

Lacy is the daughter of a youth pastor and very involved in her church.  To Lacy, the world is black and white.  This is what the Bible says, these things are right, these things are wrong.  She is thrilled to get to perform in this year's Hell House, which is a huge deal for her church.

Enter Ty, a new boy in town (although he attended school with Lacy and her friends as a young child) and Lacy knees go weak.  He is sweet and cute and he seems to like Lacy.  They start meeting at a park to hang out and talk, often working their way to religious topics.

But when one friend gets bullied, with no consequences to the bully, and another ends up pregnant, with no consequences for the boy who got her pregnant, Lacy's world starts turning gray.  How can the church turn such a blind eye to the bully and the boy?  How can they pass such judgement?  Where is their compassion? Fortunately for Lacy, Ty is a great sounding board and helps her not only ask the tough questions, but helps her come to her own conclusions instead of just parroting her parents.

I think this book would especially touch teens who love God but struggle with "the church" and many of its attitudes.

Amal is in the 11th grade at a prestigious Australian prep school.  She is a Muslim and a very faithful one, at that.  She makes the decision to start wearing a hijab, or head covering, full time.

This is a seemingly small decision, to cover her hair, that leads to huge repercussions.  Her school principal doesn't want her to do it.  Her parents worry that she will have trouble dealing with the stereotypes and have trouble finding a job.  Her crush is initially too shocked to speak to her.  People at school are either curious about why she decided to start wearing it or downright rude about it.  It has a huge ripple effect on her life.

Fortunately, Amal has amazing friends.  Two of them are Muslim and she met them at the Islamic elementary school she used to attend.  Two of them are from her new school.  All of them are insanely supportive and help Amal when she needs help the most.

One thing that struck me about this book is how real and authentic it was.  And how NORMAL Amal was.  I don't really know what I expected (a religious zealot, maybe?  Showing my own stereotype, there...), but Amal was your typical teenager with a scarf and a refusal to kiss boys.  It was so refreshing to see a Muslim portrayed in such a positive way; I fully intend to read Abdel-Fattah's other book, Ten Things I Hate About Me.