The Importance of Contemporary Christian Fiction For Tweens and Teens

I was raised in a conservative Christian household and homeschooled through high school. It’s common for homeschoolers to be shielded from the outside world, especially through media. The first contemporary Christian fiction book for kids that I read was the third book in a trilogy. Road Trip Rescue by Becca Wierwille. The story followed the main character, Jada, on a quest to ask her best friend Kimmy to forgive her. Jada made fun of Kimmy for being born with one hand. She felt guilty afterward but was afraid to approach her friend feeling she wasn’t worthy of forgiveness. Jada’s two older sisters eventually taught her that God had already forgiven her and that Kimmy will forgive her too. It was a cute story about friendship and trust and faith. These are topics that children should be introduced to in stories. 

I first discovered the series at a homeschool convention. I was hesitant to buy them because I started thinking about the Christian media I grew up with. How the characters weren’t relatable or memorable. There wasn’t much of a lesson or moral to each story. I decided to give the stories a chance and discovered that the story and the characters were well-written, relatable and memorable. 

Aside from that trilogy, most Christian fiction is fantasy, sci-fi, and historical. Everyone’s familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings. There’s nothing wrong with that. Children should learn about the supernatural and can learn from allegorical stories. They can also learn from stories written to illustrate biblical topics for kids to easily digest. Yet there are rarely any stories that teach children how to deal with difficult subjects like mental health, disability, divorce, trauma,  forgiveness, etc. 

My concern is mostly for tweens and teens because they are at the age where they can understand complex ideas. You can find many Christian books for young adults that discuss these issues. Francine Rivers, and Tessa Ashfar briefly touch on these subjects, not directly, but the themes are there. 

Tweens and teens need stories about characters that go through similar challenges so they know they aren’t alone and that there is hope. While some fiction can help readers escape to an imaginary world, they can’t fully escape reality. It also might be easier to use books as an escape. 

It can be isolating not finding stories that describe your problem and how to handle it from a Christian perspective. Most of these stories are secular. The first contemporary book for tweens I read was The Swift Boys and Me. That story follows the friendships between three brothers( Canaan, Brian, and Kevin) and a girl (Nola), before and after the boys’ father left. Their friendship is shown to be strained as the boys distance themselves from their friend and each other. Nola worries that their friendship will never be the same. 

There needs to be more stories like this–where the characters face hardship but find hope in the gospel. A girl who suddenly becomes deaf due to an illness can make a Christian friend who tells her that her story isn’t over and that God can change her life. 

Readers need to feel empowered and understand that they aren’t alone. Believing in the gospel can make things better.