Dead Religions

As I've been reading these Religion titles for PPYA, I've been thinking about how many historical fiction titles I've been reading for this. Now I should say, I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction. When I read it, I'm usually forced to do so, but I tend to enjoy the book as I read it. I just don't typically choose to read them unless directed to do so. With that said, I have had to read historical fiction for this list of nominated titles. I've liked most of them, but I always question why someone wants to read about a dead religion. Shouldn't we be understanding the religions around us today BEFORE we get into the dead ones? And then, I thought are all these religions really "Dead"?

I've talked about the Shakeress before and I also had to read The Believers--both on Shaker life and faith. I just finished another historical fiction book No Shame No Fear by Ann Turnbull. This one about the Quakers. I mistakenly thought the Quakers were a dead religion--especially because the only books I've found on them are historical fiction. No Shame, No Fear is a great book. It's a love story between a quaker servant girl and the wealthy merchant son she meets. He searches for answers to his own questions of faith and discovers the Quakers. She has always been a Quaker, but soon they both love each other so much that they stand together against his father and the law which declares their faith meetings illegal.

I definitely recommend No Shame, No Fear but wish that if Quakers are still around today, then there would be a book about that lifestyle TODAY, not in 1650. I think that it would have a better impact on the teens reading it today.