Godless by Pete Hautman

Title: Godless

Author: Pete Hautman

Publish Date: November 2005

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Pages: 208pp

IBSN: 1416908161

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age Range: 13 and up

Price: $15.95

Amazon: $8.99

Annotation: Jason decides he no longer wishes to be Catholic like his parents, instead he decides to create his own religion, Chutengodianism, a.k.a to worship the town's water tower.

Summary: Jason Bock decides to take a spiritual departure from Catholicism, as he is tired of his parent’s strict ways.  He decides, in part as a joke with his friends, to worship the town’s water tower. He recruits a congregation of worshippers and calls this new religion “Chutengodianism.” As Jason and his congregation worship the Ten-Legged God (the water tower), unexpected things and emotions start to happen.  What started out as a joke has suddenly become problematic for some of the members. 

Evaluation: I thought this was a good/quick story that offers readers a lot to ingest. Jason is an enjoyable character.  It's easy to see why he has such an influence over his friends and it’s interesting to see him attempt to figure out religion and what makes it work, or not work.  I found the evolution of the character’s motivations incredibly interesting as Jason became more curious, Shin went into an obsessive manner, Henrey just wants to climb the tower, and Magda just wants to get close to Henry.  It’s a weird parallel if you think about it.  Overall, the main message I got from this book is not that religion is a bad thing, or a good thing, just that everyone should question it. 

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness:

• Questioning faith.
• Struggling to understand religion.
• Influence can be a powerful thing. 

Reason this book was chosen: After reading the back of the book and discovering the storyline about a high school student questioning religion that decides as a joke to form a new religion worshipping the local water tower, I knew I had to read this. 

Similar Titles:

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjan

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Author Website: Click HERE

Awards:

National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, 2004

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2005

Booklist Editors’ Choice, 2004

CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children’s Book Council)

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 2005

ALA Popular Paperbacks, 2007