B.C. Tweedt
Great question! I wrote the books for a secular audience so that any reader would enjoy the clean (yet intense) adventure without feeling the author was preaching. The first book doesn't mention Christianity - but it does have an emphasis on standing up for what is good and right - no matter the costs (something everyone can root for).
That being said, the main character does encounter Christian elements as the series progresses. It isn't forced, and the conclusions he draws are those any real-life junior-higher may come to. When he is given a tiny Bible to keep in his fanny pack, he takes months to crack it open - and when he does, it's as confusing as it is intriguing. Then, it takes time for him to question it, doubt it, and test its lessons in the real world - the world that has hurled him into battles of survival, taken much of what he has loved, and caused great suffering. In a NATURAL way then, the reader sees how Greyson both challenges the words he reads and is challenged BY them.
After the fourth book, Greyson is still scrawling the debts he owes others into the little Bible's table of contents. While many Christian books may have neat and tidy lessons, Greyson's journey is messy and - I would argue - genuine. And so is his world. It's just as if the books are a snapshot of real junior-higher's life, including off-color humor (at a public school junior high level), some violence (like what they may see at a PG-13 movie), romance (like at an awkward dance), and discussion of faith (like they may hear at youth group, church, or the dinner table).
Of all the challenges Greyson faces in the series, religion is just one. If a reader wants to call it "Christian" because of this particular challenge, then that's fine. I've worked at a youth group with many kids like Greyson who have examined Christian teachings, and I've seen many different outcomes. In the end I'm hoping Greyson's struggle serves as an example to all kids - to search for what is right, what is true, and then to hold onto it no matter the consequences.
That being said, the main character does encounter Christian elements as the series progresses. It isn't forced, and the conclusions he draws are those any real-life junior-higher may come to. When he is given a tiny Bible to keep in his fanny pack, he takes months to crack it open - and when he does, it's as confusing as it is intriguing. Then, it takes time for him to question it, doubt it, and test its lessons in the real world - the world that has hurled him into battles of survival, taken much of what he has loved, and caused great suffering. In a NATURAL way then, the reader sees how Greyson both challenges the words he reads and is challenged BY them.
After the fourth book, Greyson is still scrawling the debts he owes others into the little Bible's table of contents. While many Christian books may have neat and tidy lessons, Greyson's journey is messy and - I would argue - genuine. And so is his world. It's just as if the books are a snapshot of real junior-higher's life, including off-color humor (at a public school junior high level), some violence (like what they may see at a PG-13 movie), romance (like at an awkward dance), and discussion of faith (like they may hear at youth group, church, or the dinner table).
Of all the challenges Greyson faces in the series, religion is just one. If a reader wants to call it "Christian" because of this particular challenge, then that's fine. I've worked at a youth group with many kids like Greyson who have examined Christian teachings, and I've seen many different outcomes. In the end I'm hoping Greyson's struggle serves as an example to all kids - to search for what is right, what is true, and then to hold onto it no matter the consequences.
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