Content Category
English Teaching
Abstract/Description
This paper aims to answer the question "Why are there so few religiously- or spiritually-themed books in mainstream YA literature?" There are many books published each year aimed towards a young adult audience but few have central themes of spirituality or religion. The author uses databases of YA literature, a sampling of YA books, personal experience, and academic journal articles to answer the question. It is hoped and expected that this research will encourage more teachers and scholars invested in YA literature to further question the lack of religion and spirituality in YA literature and spurn further searches for books that do centralize on such themes.
Copyright and Licensing of My Content
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Origin of Submission
as part of a class
Faculty Involvement
Chris Crowe
The Taboo of Religion in YA Literature
This paper aims to answer the question "Why are there so few religiously- or spiritually-themed books in mainstream YA literature?" There are many books published each year aimed towards a young adult audience but few have central themes of spirituality or religion. The author uses databases of YA literature, a sampling of YA books, personal experience, and academic journal articles to answer the question. It is hoped and expected that this research will encourage more teachers and scholars invested in YA literature to further question the lack of religion and spirituality in YA literature and spurn further searches for books that do centralize on such themes.