Godless

Bibliography:

Hautman, P. (2004). Godless. New York: Simon Pulse, 198 pp.

Genre and Awards:

Novel

National Book Award Winner, ALA Best Book for Young Adults

After being forced to attend weekly teenage church services by his devout Catholic father, Jason Bock, who claims to be agnostic-going-on-atheist, jokingly decides to found a religion with his friend Shin. In this religion called Chutengodianism, God is the town’s ten-legged water tower. Jason determines this after making an observation that water is the source of all life.

Over time the idea takes hold of Jason and Shin and they develop tenets of faith and gather other followers. The development of Chutengodianism mirrors that of early Christianity: Jason assumes the grass roots Jesus role, while Shin focuses on the scriptures. Henry Stagg, a bully who joins the religion, commits random destructive acts such as spray painting messages on the water tower. Magda follows whomever she is most interested in day-to-day. Competition for her attention creates tension in this small religious sect.

The practice of Chutengodianism gets carried away when the church members decide to hold a dangerous midnight service on top of their “God.” After the service, one injured member ends up in the hospital and the others are briefly placed in jail. The fallout from this event changes the attitudes of a few of the Chutengodians toward traditional organized religion and draws attention to the potential mental illness of another.

Although religion is always a controversial topic in schools, Godless approaches adolescent religious curiosity in such a unique nonthreatening way I do not think the book would ruffle any feathers if it were named something more benign.

I would recommend this novel for ages 12 and over for independent reading, literature circles, and reading aloud.