Religion in Teen Fiction
This is Just a Test by Madelyn Rosenberg and Wendy Wan-Long Shang
- Pub Date: 2017
- Middle school interest
- Religion: Judaism
- See also: Historical
A Patron Saint for Junior Bridesmaids by Shelley Tougas
- Pub Date: 2016
- Middle school interest
- See also: Marriage, Extended Family
- Mary, a devout Catholic, struggles with her faith & makes a friend who is a Unitarian.
Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
- Pub Date: 2007
- Middle and High school interest
- Religion: Christianity & Questioning
- Mena comes to her own conclusion about her beliefs after she is unfairly banned from her church.
Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin
- Pub Date: 2007
- Middle and high school interest
- Religion: Judaism
- See also: Extended Family
- Marne spends the summer with her extended family.
Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati
- Pub Date: 2013
- Middle and high school interest
- Religion: Orthodox Jew
- See also: Goal Oriented Girls, International Settings
- An Orthodox Jewish girl pursues her dream of ballet in secret because her parents would not approve.
A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman
Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu
- Pub Date: 2015
- Middle and high school interest
- Religion: Christianity & Questioning
- A girl in a quiverful family questions her family's beliefs and lifestyle.
Like No Other by Una LaMarche
Blind Faith by Ellen Wittlinger
- Pub Date: 2006
- Middle and high school interest
- Liz's mom joins a Spiritualist church to try to communicate with a dead relative.
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt
- Pub Date: 2006
- High school interest
- Religion: Judaism
- See also: Atheism, Long Lost Parent
- Simone connects with her birth mother.
Incantation by Alice Hoffman
- Pub Date: 2006
- High school interest
- Religion: Judaism & Catholicism
- See also: Historical, Secrets
- Estrella's world changes when she finds out her family have been secretly practicing the Jewish faith during the Spanish Inquisition.
No Shame No Fear by Ann Turnbull
Never Mind the Goldbergs by Matthue Roth
The Shakeress by Kimberly Heuston
- Pub Date: 2008
- Middle and high school interest
- 1820's & 30's
- A historical novel about a girl who joins the Shakers as a child but later finds that it isn't for her and joins the Mormon religion.
Hush by Eishes Chayil
A World Away by Nancy Grossman
- Pub Date: 2012
- High school interest
- Religion: Amish
- See also: Religion, Making Decisions
- An Amish teen spends a summer working as a nanny for a non-Amish family.
How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt
Seeking Eden by Ann Turnbull
- Pub Date: 2012 (in the UK)
- High school interest
- Sequel to: Forged in the Fire
- See also: Historical
- Josiah, a young Quaker, struggles with the slavery her encounters in the New World.
Cults
The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecelia Galante
- Pub Date: 2009
- Middle school interest
- Two girls have grown up in a religious commune, but they have grown apart in terms of faith.
My Life with the Liars by Caela Carter
- Pub Date: 2016
- Middle school interest
- See also: Fish Out of Water, Long Lost Parent
- Zylynn has grown up in a cult, but she is removed on her 13th birthday and sent to live with her father.
Keep Sweet by Michelle Greene
- Pub Date: 2010
- High school interest
- Alva has grown up in a strict religious community, and she is about to be married.
- See also: Pregnancy/Childbirth, Marriage
Book of Fred by Abby Bardi
- Pub Date: 2001
- Adult book of interest to teens
- See also: Fish Out of Water
- A teen who was raised in a cult is put into foster care and must decide what she will believe apart from her family.
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
Eden West by Pete Hautman
Starbird Murphy and the World Outside by Karen Finneyfrock
- Pub Date: 2014
- High school interest
- See also: Fish Out of Water
- On the blog: Talking about Religion
- Starbird lives in the Family farm with her mother and other believers, but when she is called to work in the Family cafe in town, she lives among non believers for the first time.
Down from the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer
- Pub Date: 2015
- High school interest
This Side of Salvation by Jeri Smith-Ready
- Pub Date: 2014
- High school interest
- A teenage boy tries to determine what happened to his parents after what appears to be a rapture.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Fictional/Fantasy Religions
The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead
- Pub Date: 2016
- High School Interest
- Genre: Historical Fantasy
- See also: Disguised, Marriage
- A countess assumes the identity of her maid and falls in love with a man who practices a heretical religion.
Midnight Jewel by Richelle Mead
- Pub Date: 2017
- High school interest
- Companion to The Glittering Court
- See also: Disguised, Marriage
- Another perspective on the Glittering Court and it's world with various religious practices.
The Emerald Sea by Richelle Mead
- Pub Date: 2018
- High school interest
- Companion to The Glittering Court & Midnight Jewel
- See also: Secrets
- Tamsin finds herself taking refuge with the Heirs of Uros, an unusually strict version of the religion in this series.
Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers
- Pub Date: 2016
- High school interest
- Lea is an assassin, who worships a goddess of death and resurrection.
Thief's Cunning by Sarah Ahiers
- Pub Date: 2017
- High school interest
- Companion to Assassin's Heart
- Allegra, raised to worship a goddess of death in a city where most people worship a god of money, experiences a new religious belief.
Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson