On religion in YA fiction.

Brittany Melson, at Heroes and Heartbreakers:

Flip open the average YA novel, and you’ll find witches and vampires, dead parents and cheating boyfriends, but you’ll rarely find a discussion of God, spiritual beliefs, or a teenager’s religious background. Some people may wonder if teenagers aren’t religious. Or they may wonder if young adult authors aren’t religious and, therefore, don’t feel compelled to create religious characters. According to recent statistics, however, that’s just not true.

Via Tanita, at Finding Wonderland, who responds thusly...:

Today's successful, mainstream novels lack a preachy, judgmental tone, and avoid coming up with conclusions FOR the readers. But, that doesn't mean there are no novels discussing faith seriously - what Rilke described in Letter to a Young Poet as "Living the questions…along some distant day into the answers…." There are all manner of novels living the questions to varying degrees - and they cover Christianity of all stripes, Judaism, the Muslim faith, and the agnostic stance. What they do NOT provide is an answer - it's the question that's important, please take note.

...and then goes on to recommend a bajillion titles.