Diveristy in YA gets a lot of hype and I totally understand that! We need Diverse authors! We need diverse characters! But diversity is about inclusion, not exclusion.
“These days it’s relatively easy for teens to find genre fiction that includes characters who are queer or people of color, or realistic fiction where such characters are depicted in well-rounded ways, not framed simply in relation to their marginalized identities.”- Laura Simeon- Kirkus YA edictor
I hadn’t thought much about this in regards to religion until I read an article in the September 2019 Kirkus.
“Religion in Mainstream YA titles seems to be conspicuous either in its absence or as the focal point of a problem- typically a young person struggling against oppression … There are a number of young adults for whom religion is a positive parts of their lives, to a greater or lesser degree, not a a huge source of angst. For these young people, faith offers a framework for doing good in the world, answering important existential questions, and feeling connected to family and community, among other things.” – Laura Simeon- Kirkus YA editor
Hmmmm. You mean we can have characters that are religious and not have them completely turn away from their religion? You mean we can have books with characters who are religious but don’t define themselves by it? You mean we can have books about characters who practice their religion and actually appreciate that part of their life? Yes. Yes, and yes.
I’ve seen a push to include practicing and nominal Muslims in literature and I think that’s great. (If you don’t believe me, check out a past article I wrote) But once again- we can’t include at the expense of excluding others.
Simeon brings up a great point in her article that yes, there are publishing companies who are publishing their YA lit in hopes of “preaching” or “teaching” their particular religion. And, in my not so humble opinion, that’s okay. If that’s what the publishing house wants to do, great! Go right ahead! There are many people who are looking for that type of literature and I’m glad someone can provide it to them.
But let’s stop viewing religion as a bad thing, okay? Do I practice my own particular religion? yes. Do I condemn those who practice a different religion? No. Do I believe my religion is the right one? yes. But don’t we all? We all believe that we know what the right way of believing is- but this should never stop us from hearing about someone who believes differently than we do and this should never be a cop-out to make religion the “bad guy” in a story, or in life.
Let’s look at a few examples of some books I can appreciate that depict faith without it being the “bad guy” or the overwhelming topic of the book.
There’s something about Sweetie by Sandhya Menon. In this sequel to “When Dimple met Rishi” Menon takes on Rishi’s younger brother, Ashish, and his aversion to all things regarding Indian culture. Ashish ends up in an arranged relationship and learns to appreciate some of the Indian culture. The book is much more about his relationship with Sweetie than about religion but I want to commend Menon for her depiction of Sweetie. Sweetie is religious. She appreciates going to the temple and appreciates some of the religious aspects of her life. It’s not her overwhelming personality trait, but it is present. Menon shows this in a very respectful and natural way.
The Merchant’s Daughter- Melanie Dickerson. Melanie Dickerson has written a series of fairy tale re-tellings entitled “The Hagenheim Series”. Each story is set in Medieval times. This is the second book in the series and is loosely based on the Beauty and the Beast storyline. It features a wonderful heroine who is willing the do tough things to save her family. She also holds firm to her faith. It isn’t preachy and isn’t a part of every chapter but it is sprinkled throughout. Her Christian faith is real and true and, just as in Menon’s book, her religion makes her strive to do better in her life. Her faith is genuine.
Choosing up Sides by John H. Ritter. Luke Bledsoe has always been different because he is left-handed, and his preacher of a father has done everything he can to change Luke to the “correct” way of doing things. Now this book does have a lot of religion that is painted as the bad guy BUT Luke realizes something near the end of the book. He realizes that the Bible has things to say that are true and that his father hasn’t looked at the whole Bible. There’s also a wonderful moment when Luke says that he can’t imagine Jesus doing what his father did. That’s the point. Luke still has his faith in religion but it is his own journey to what he believes, not a cookie-cutter version of what others believe.
So there are books out there that do this well. That allow well-rounded characters who have faith. But we need to step away from religion as the “villain” in YA lit. Let’s not sell our teens short by ignoring fully fleshed out characters that have depth.
Keep Sparkling,
B
The Sparkling Librarian 