7 Benefits of Christian Young Adult Books

Christian young adult literature can have a great positive influence on teens, say experts. Christian teen fiction is coming into its own these days as sales rise for both digital and traditional books, and as publishers look for the next best-selling series, reports Publishers Weekly. 

The Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen series—now modern Christian YA classics—have sold more than two million copies between them, and the Diary of a Teenage Girl books have sold more than 600,000 copies since 2008, Slate.com reports.

Richard Paul Evans, author of novels for adults such as "The Christmas Box," has found big success in the YA market with his Michael Vey series. "Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25" reached number one on the "New York Times" best-seller list (teen fiction), Publishers Weekly states.

 

Most Christian publishers have guidelines regarding the use of language, taboo words, and certain plot situations, and some have in-house theologians that vet content to make sure it adheres to Biblical principles, Slate.com reports.

 

I think it’s great to see children enjoying literature with spiritual themes and to see publishers expanding this genre. This literature can help teens to understand religious beliefs and the world in which they live.

Young-adult oriented stories can more easily hold a teen's attention, and that's perfect if your goal is to help kids learn values and concepts that might be difficult to understand.

Christian young adult novels generally have clean language and are not preachy like many people think. Christian values are presented through themes, plots, and characters to which teens can relate. This way young readers don't feel like they're in school. Instead it gives them a wonderful opportunity to understand and get familiar with religion and religious values.

Through Christian YA novels teens can learn:

* Family values, particularly with a religious slant

* Morality as described in the Bible

* How to accept and offer forgiveness, which is crucial for maturing teens

* The importance of friendship, cooperation, and loyalty

* The merits of acceptance, kindness, and charity

* The importance of having faith and a spiritual life

* Hope, which is a necessary virtue in a world filled with seemingly insurmountable obstacles

It is important to build a spiritual foundation in teenagers and to instill and reinforce moral and social values. Through engaging, entertaining books that emphasize Christian themes, teens can more easily learn values and understand faith, which will help them to go through their lives as richer, stronger, wiser adults.

 

And I cannot stress enough the value of daily Bible reading. There we find the greatest story of all, to which all other stories pale in comparison: a miraculous birth, pity, scorn, hatred, deception, betrayal, torture, and murder, all for the sake of true love. But it doesn't end there. There's much more. If you haven't read it, here's a spoiler for you...it can have a very happy ending.

Are Young Adult Books Filled With Profanity?

Parents would be surprised to learn how much profanity is contained in today's young adult (YA) fiction, according to one study.

 

It seems that YA novels are rife with profanity, reports Sarah Coyne, a lead researcher and professor of social sciences at Brigham Young University. Moreover, she claims, characters who curse are generally portrayed in positive and favorable ways. The study was published in the "Mass Communication and Society" journal.

Ms. Coyne analyzed the use of profanity in forty teen novels on the "New York Times" best-sellers list for children's books. She discovered that on average the novels contained thirty-eight cases of what she characterizes as "bad language use" and nearly thirty-five instances of swearing.

Specifically the study revealed that the majority of profanities included words like "hell" and "damn" while another twenty percent were made up of words that are banned on US primetime television, such as "s---" and "f---." Less common were sexual words and other strong profanities.

The study also showed that characters who swear the most in young adult novels are rich, beautiful, and popular.

As with other media, including movies, music, video games, comics, and television, it is very important for parents to be aware of what their kids are drawn to. It's up to Mom and Dad to help their kids make selections. Let's not forget that kids are exposed to a lot of different things, positive and negative, and their parents must help them sort through a world of ever-changing norms and social values.

Some parents and experts want to see content warning labels on books while others believe that step is a gross overreaction.

"Books can be a safe way for young people to explore edgier, sensitive, or complicated topics, and they provide parents with opportunities to help their teens grow and understand these kinds of sensitive issues," says Beth Yoke, executive director of the Young Adult Library Services Association, an offshoot of the American Library Association. "ALA's interpretation on any rating system for books is that it's censorship."

Common Sense Media (http://www.commonsensemedia.org) is one of the organizations aimed at providing parents an age rating guide to books. There are already more than 2,300 books in their traffic-light system.

Personally, I don't believe that profanity and vulgar language are necessary, especially in Middle Grade and Young Adult books. It's bad enough to hear people speak that way. Seeing course speech in print makes it all the more powerful. There are creative ways to get around expletives, even in the dialog of villains. Yes, it requires a little more work, but that's what good writing is all about.

I'm happy when teens are reading. Happier still when they're reading wholesome material. Books can have positive effects on them as they learn about the real world using different types of media. Kids need to find moral solutions to their problems, and these novels can be a big help.