Have a Little Faith, Proser

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the bookshelf. Actually four funny things.

First, I read a book in which the villain was a preacher who turned out to be an evil cult leader bent on his own monetary gain irregardless of how many people he hurt.

Next, I read a book that began in a post-apocalyptic village ruled by a religious group of women. So intent were they on keeping power that they ultimately committed the vilest of sins, leading to the destruction of nearly their entire flock.

The third book, I just started (but cheated and read an online summary to make sure it was okay to read aloud with my boys). Set in a post-apocalyptic village, an insane preacher is willing to manipulate anyone, even kill to maintain his grip on his people.

Fourth, these three books read right in a row reminded me of another book I read in the last couple months that I didn't finish (a rarity for me). In an ensemble cast of blatantly cardboard stereotypes, the religious girl with the perfect exterior was, of course, exposed as the hypocrite everyone knew she was. Her character arc consisted of denouncing her beliefs so that she could truly 'find herself.'

 Most of the books I typically read don't contain any references to faith at all. And I'm fine, and have always been fine, with that. Faith is a personal thing. And my faith is not necessarily yours is not the person next to us. So, although I like learning about religious traditions, I don't need my literature to be affirming to be fulfilling.

But, I will say, I found the succession of negative portrayals more than a little discouraging. Was it because these were all dystopian or alternate universe - literature I'm not as well versed in as fantasy - and that's how they're written these days? Or did I just stumble upon an anomalous trifecta (quadfecta?) of religious acrimony?

Anyway, after reading those, I tried to come up with some positive counterexamples of faith that I've read recently in YA lit. Here are three:

The first is my perennial favorite, the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. Most inhabitants of her world don't pay much attention at all to the pantheon of gods. They go through the motions of obeisance and celebrate feasts simply for tradition's sake. Gen and his companions, who absolutely understand the reality of the gods, have very ambivalent relationships and feelings toward them.

The second is Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. I'm rusty on this one, it's been a while since I read it, but I think I remember the world was based somewhat on Mongolian tradition. The mc, Dashti, takes comfort in her ancestors and nature worship, doesn't she? (Goody, now I'll have to reread it to find out!)

The last book, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, by Rae Carson, was the only one I could think of where religion played such an integral and positive part in the main character's life. Blessed to be a chosen one, Elisa keeps her faith and ultimately uses it to claim victory over her enemies.

So, how do you see faith (and I mean any faith from real world beliefs to ones created to fit a novel's world) fitting into YA literature?

Does the acceptance of faith by the reader change depending on the genre? Do you have faith traditions in your books? What books can you think of that do? And since faith plays such a large role in many real people's lives (over 90% of Americans profess a belief in God), what do you think the place of faith could/should be in creating well-rounded characters?