My 9 year old son Twilight The novel I brought home from the library was a bloody, vampire romance thriller, a fun read for those who like that sort of thing, and a real page turner, but the books my kids chose to read were generally about talking animals, wildlife exploration, mythical adventures, and wizarding schools.
“Twilight “This might be scary,” I warned.
“I don’t like scary books,” my daughter admitted.
“And probably blood too,” I added, “because they’re vampires.”
“My friends are reading it,” she said hesitantly, “but I don’t like vampires.”
I felt the tide turning in my favor. “It’s up to you.”
She skipped Twilight and Penderwick, The Unicorn Chroniclesstack Magic Tree House There were loads of titles and beloved picture books, and I breathed a sigh of relief, because while I would happily recommend this book, Twilight As a guilty pleasure for adult readers, I wasn’t looking forward to discussing the dating rituals and toxic relationships of teenage vampires with a nine-year-old.
Fortunately, many of the best books for young readers available today, including some that some critics would ban, are inspiring, faith-filled, and even Catholic in form, tone, theme, and outlook. Just as important, they are also really easy to read.
“Children’s writers have another responsibility, and it’s a big one: they have the responsibility to tell the truth. … Otherwise we will never learn to live with the brokenness of the world.”
—Gary Schmidt
“The middle-grade novel is a healing arc,” says National Book Award-winning author Kaysen Callender. The King and the Dragonfly He recently spoke to me about his struggles with grief, love, family, friendship and racism in the South.
As this book explores issues related to sexuality, The King and the Dragonfly The book has been a regular feature of critics calling for it to be removed from schools and libraries. Meanwhile, its protagonist, Kingston Reginald James (aka King James, the literal incarnation of the Word of God), struggles to save his friend, yet remains a good son wanting to be worthy of his father’s love. Fans of the Gospels will enjoy the parallels.
Following Flannery O’Connor’s advice that violence mysteriously prepares characters to embrace moments of grace, Erin Bowe’s recent novel, Simon says:tells the story of seventh-grader Simon O’Keefe, the sole survivor of a horrific school shooting. This 2023 Newbery Medal winner is heartwarming, heartbreaking, and not to mention hilarious.
in Simon says:In 1940, the O’Keefe family moved to the small town of Green and Bear, Nebraska. Simon’s mother, a funeral director, took over the local funeral parlor, and his father was the permanent deacon at St. Barbara Catholic Church. There, when a squirrel happened to be approaching Communion, a call came from the diocese. The local bishop had received word that Deacon O’Keefe now called the animal “Jesus Squirrel.”
“We have to acknowledge that the weight and history of the church over 2,000 years holds great comedic potential,” Bowe, who grew up in Omaha and attended Mercy High School and Creighton University, told me in a recent interview.
In the midst of reconstruction, tragedy and sorrow, Simon says: It’s driven by middle school mayhem, serious alien studies, kids embracing their differences, the funniest Catholic church scene ever to appear in print, and a nod to the National Catholic Reporter.
“This was a fun opportunity to get all my thoughts about Catholicism down on paper,” Bowe says. “I was also really interested in how the church intersects with rural town life.”
In all of her work, which includes poetry, science fiction, fantasy, and realistic contemporary novels for young readers, Bow explores questions about the aftermath, faith, and finding one’s place in the world. Simon says: “This isn’t a story about a school shooting,” she said. “This is a story about healing.”
“If a children’s story is completely dark and depressing and awful, that seems like a disservice to me,” says author Gary Schmidt, whose books have won accolades including the Newbery Medal, the Printez Award and the National Book Award. “If it’s twisted, that seems like a disservice to me. If it’s all happy-go-lucky pink ponies going to puppy land, that seems like a disservice to me.”
In Schmidt’s latest novel, Hercules Beer’s achievementsMiddle school students must recreate the exploits of Greek heroes in real life. As with Schmidt’s previous works, Hercules Beer’s achievements It’s full of adventure, history, humor, and friendship, as well as some serious reflections on grief, God, beauty, and the joy of being greeted by a great dog at the end of a hard day.
“I have a responsibility to tell good stories,” Schmidt told me in a personal interview, “but there’s another big responsibility as a children’s writer: a responsibility to tell the truth, to not lie to children. Otherwise, how can we learn to live with the brokenness of the world and the sadness it brings? It would be patently foolish to deny it; it would be even worse to ignore it; rather, we can say that this is the way the world is. What strength can I bring to this world? What grace can sustain me? What grace can I use to sustain others?”
Johannes the stray dog, protagonist of Dave Eggers’ 2023 Newbery Medal-winning novel Eyes and Impossibility He sums it up beautifully: “Every rational person knows that thinking only of oneself is the worst thing a human being can do. If we have troubles in our hearts, we should first think of the troubles of others. That is the essence of liberation. In other words, freedom begins the moment we forget ourselves.”
Or as Jonathan Oxier puts it more simply: Sweep: A Tale of a Girl and a Monster“That’s it, isn’t it? By saving others, we save ourselves.”
Perhaps Pope Francis put it most succinctly: “No one is saved alone.”
“Kids don’t want to read sermons,” Schmidt warns. “In fact, most adults don’t want to read sermons. We want a good story to keep us turning the pages, but we also want to ask the hardest question, which is, ‘How do you move on when there’s pain and loss?’ To me, that sounds like a very religious question. We can’t promise that things will be easy or that there won’t be danger ahead, but we can give kids hope that things might be OK for now.”
The best children’s books hold the possibility that maybe tomorrow will be okay.
