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kylauren1723's review against another edition
3.0
Godless by Pete Hautman
Summary: Jason is fed up with Catholicism and his father trying to brainwash him with religion. So he decides to create his own religion and deems the water tower to be God. His religion, “The Church of the Ten-legged God,” or “Chutengodianism,” is free, you don’t have to dress weird, and you don’t have to go to church on Sundays. He enlists some friends to join, and his best friend takes the religion much more seriously than Jason intended. Things get out of control when more people start joining and they hold their first mass.
I found this book to be very thought-provoking. I am fascinated in hearing different perspectives surrounding religion and the indoctrination of children within different religious constructs and this book provided a lot to think about. I think it presents some interesting ideas about faith and could lead to some profound conversations with young people who decide to read this. I like how the book demonstrated the levels of faith that the different kids had. I also think it was important to show how Jason’s intentions did not align with the result of what happened which I think can be related to other cults and religions and how quickly things can get out of hand.
(Adolescent Lit Class Book #20)
Summary: Jason is fed up with Catholicism and his father trying to brainwash him with religion. So he decides to create his own religion and deems the water tower to be God. His religion, “The Church of the Ten-legged God,” or “Chutengodianism,” is free, you don’t have to dress weird, and you don’t have to go to church on Sundays. He enlists some friends to join, and his best friend takes the religion much more seriously than Jason intended. Things get out of control when more people start joining and they hold their first mass.
I found this book to be very thought-provoking. I am fascinated in hearing different perspectives surrounding religion and the indoctrination of children within different religious constructs and this book provided a lot to think about. I think it presents some interesting ideas about faith and could lead to some profound conversations with young people who decide to read this. I like how the book demonstrated the levels of faith that the different kids had. I also think it was important to show how Jason’s intentions did not align with the result of what happened which I think can be related to other cults and religions and how quickly things can get out of hand.
(Adolescent Lit Class Book #20)
dancearh's review against another edition
5.0
Very well written for a young adult novel. This book is perfect for those teenagers that are questioning the religious beliefs of their parents. I really liked the idea of comparing the organized religious beliefs to the equivalent of worshipping a water tower, because they really are just as ludicrous. I commend Pete Hautman for not being scared of the overly zealous religious groups and writing this wonderful story.
linzer712's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so boring. Yes, another young adult one, and I am taking into consideration, but it felt contrived and pointless.
I did like imagining the idea of swimming inside of a watertower (during a thunmderstorm, no less) though!
I did like imagining the idea of swimming inside of a watertower (during a thunmderstorm, no less) though!
allmadhere106's review against another edition
3.0
Jacob is fed up with religion and with his parents' ideas of the importance of Catholicism. To give himself something to do over the summer, Jacob invents a new religion where he worships the town water tower. He ropes some friends into it and eventually things start to get out of hand when some members begin to take the "religion" too seriously. A good book for kids questioning their faith and wanting answers, but I'm not totally sure what the overall message is. It almost seemed like they were punished for looking outside of their families religions instead of being liberated. I also can't help but feel like it would cause a lot of problems for readers in the target age group if their parents mirrored Jacob's. This was entertaining for me and could be a good read for older readers who have more overall control over what they read, but I feel like this gives a mixed message.
rennegade's review against another edition
4.0
I really appreciate what the author was trying to do here. It is very difficult to find YA books on atheism (there are soooo many hot-button topics written about in YA fiction, but atheism seems to be the final frontier that hasn't been fully explored yet).
It was a good comment on religion and faith in general. The characters were pretty well fleshed out. My quibble is that I did not find the plot fully captivating. The length was just right; it if had been much longer I think I would have enjoyed it less.
Now I am on the hunt for good YA books that deal with atheism.
It was a good comment on religion and faith in general. The characters were pretty well fleshed out. My quibble is that I did not find the plot fully captivating. The length was just right; it if had been much longer I think I would have enjoyed it less.
Now I am on the hunt for good YA books that deal with atheism.
maurganne's review against another edition
2.0
Godless
By Pete Hautman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Ages: 7-10 grade
Addresses atheism explicitly: A
Shows atheists as being moral people: D
Portrays those with contrary beliefs compassionately: C
Jason Bock is a typical 15-year-old misfit- his only real friend is the odd kid in school who collects snails and is more socially inept than he is himself. “I respect power,” Jason says in the first few pages as we’re getting to know him, and it’s an honest assessment of himself. Throughout the book, his actions are largely based on that need to have some power over his world. His mother is a hypochondriac and his father is deeply religious, and Jason is equally dismissive of both. It’s obvious that his mother’s constant need to find something wrong with Jason is illogical- “nuts” in his words- but it’s not entirely clear how Jason came to the same conclusion about his father’s religious beliefs. Everyone in Jason’s world believes in god, and while Jason’s “agnostic-going-on-atheist” belief is established early on in the book, his objections to religion seem to be based on frustration at being expected to believe, rather than on whatever reasons he might legitimately have for his lack of belief.
After an encounter with a bully that ends with Jason knocked down and dazed, he has what he refers to as a religious experience. He realizes the power of water in his community, and in particular, the value of the town water tower. To him, this is as logical a god as the unseen version his father and his youth group would like him to believe in. It starts off as a joke, a way to shock his youth group leader, but he soon finds that his stated belief in the town water tower as a god has unexpected but not unwelcome consequences, at least at first. Being the founder of his own religion is a type of power he can’t resist. If religion can get people to church, get them to take the words of the preacher seriously, and get them to donate to the collection plate, it seems logical to Jason that being the leader of that kind of organization is a much better proposition than being in the congregation. Even though he doesn’t really believe in the Ten-legged God he invented, he is carried away with his new found power to influence people.
There are some interesting comparisons between the progressions of Jason’s new religion to the world’s more established religions. Jason likens himself to the persecuted of all newly formed religions when he finds himself in trouble for some of his actions. He witnesses first-hand as his religion develops factions that turn against each other. He discovers the danger of religious fanaticism. Perhaps most tellingly, he finds himself compromising his morals in order to convert and try to keep members of his new religion. He justifies his behavior in terms of the religion he doesn’t even believe in. He points out the precedence of this kind of justification in established religions throughout history. These parallels seem like they should lead him to some sort of conclusion about his own religion, his own lack of faith, but they don’t.
When all is said and done, Jason is left with more questions than answers. He has alienated himself even further from his community and has not resolved any of his feelings about god or religion, much less his own moral compass. His father, the devout Catholic, is surprisingly forgiving of Jason’s confusion. “There are a lot of perfectly good religions out there. You’re a smart kid, Jason. I know you’ll find what you’re looking for.” This implies, of course, that any religion is better than no religion. And Jason seems to agree- he envies the “power and contentment” that he ends up crediting his father and the other religious people around him with, despite having seen no such power or contentment in them throughout the book, nor in his own ill-fated experiment as a religious leader. He leaves us while still clinging to the Ten-legged God he doesn’t believe in, because it seems he must have something standing in for god.
While Jason’s voice is well-written (he’s a good story teller and probably quite relatable for the young adult reader), this reviewer did not find him to be a particularly likable character. He doesn’t know what he stands for and he doesn’t ever really figure it out- and his best friend pays the price, which Jason is barely able to acknowledge. Although the book is perhaps brave in that it does attempt to address outright what it might be like to be a young atheist, it doesn’t seem to come at that topic from any particular point of view, and the result is not particularly enlightening from either a religious or an atheistic perspective. Readers may find themselves re-examining their own thoughts on religion, but any conclusions they draw will, perhaps, be in spite of what they find in this book.
By Pete Hautman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Ages: 7-10 grade
Addresses atheism explicitly: A
Shows atheists as being moral people: D
Portrays those with contrary beliefs compassionately: C
Jason Bock is a typical 15-year-old misfit- his only real friend is the odd kid in school who collects snails and is more socially inept than he is himself. “I respect power,” Jason says in the first few pages as we’re getting to know him, and it’s an honest assessment of himself. Throughout the book, his actions are largely based on that need to have some power over his world. His mother is a hypochondriac and his father is deeply religious, and Jason is equally dismissive of both. It’s obvious that his mother’s constant need to find something wrong with Jason is illogical- “nuts” in his words- but it’s not entirely clear how Jason came to the same conclusion about his father’s religious beliefs. Everyone in Jason’s world believes in god, and while Jason’s “agnostic-going-on-atheist” belief is established early on in the book, his objections to religion seem to be based on frustration at being expected to believe, rather than on whatever reasons he might legitimately have for his lack of belief.
After an encounter with a bully that ends with Jason knocked down and dazed, he has what he refers to as a religious experience. He realizes the power of water in his community, and in particular, the value of the town water tower. To him, this is as logical a god as the unseen version his father and his youth group would like him to believe in. It starts off as a joke, a way to shock his youth group leader, but he soon finds that his stated belief in the town water tower as a god has unexpected but not unwelcome consequences, at least at first. Being the founder of his own religion is a type of power he can’t resist. If religion can get people to church, get them to take the words of the preacher seriously, and get them to donate to the collection plate, it seems logical to Jason that being the leader of that kind of organization is a much better proposition than being in the congregation. Even though he doesn’t really believe in the Ten-legged God he invented, he is carried away with his new found power to influence people.
There are some interesting comparisons between the progressions of Jason’s new religion to the world’s more established religions. Jason likens himself to the persecuted of all newly formed religions when he finds himself in trouble for some of his actions. He witnesses first-hand as his religion develops factions that turn against each other. He discovers the danger of religious fanaticism. Perhaps most tellingly, he finds himself compromising his morals in order to convert and try to keep members of his new religion. He justifies his behavior in terms of the religion he doesn’t even believe in. He points out the precedence of this kind of justification in established religions throughout history. These parallels seem like they should lead him to some sort of conclusion about his own religion, his own lack of faith, but they don’t.
When all is said and done, Jason is left with more questions than answers. He has alienated himself even further from his community and has not resolved any of his feelings about god or religion, much less his own moral compass. His father, the devout Catholic, is surprisingly forgiving of Jason’s confusion. “There are a lot of perfectly good religions out there. You’re a smart kid, Jason. I know you’ll find what you’re looking for.” This implies, of course, that any religion is better than no religion. And Jason seems to agree- he envies the “power and contentment” that he ends up crediting his father and the other religious people around him with, despite having seen no such power or contentment in them throughout the book, nor in his own ill-fated experiment as a religious leader. He leaves us while still clinging to the Ten-legged God he doesn’t believe in, because it seems he must have something standing in for god.
While Jason’s voice is well-written (he’s a good story teller and probably quite relatable for the young adult reader), this reviewer did not find him to be a particularly likable character. He doesn’t know what he stands for and he doesn’t ever really figure it out- and his best friend pays the price, which Jason is barely able to acknowledge. Although the book is perhaps brave in that it does attempt to address outright what it might be like to be a young atheist, it doesn’t seem to come at that topic from any particular point of view, and the result is not particularly enlightening from either a religious or an atheistic perspective. Readers may find themselves re-examining their own thoughts on religion, but any conclusions they draw will, perhaps, be in spite of what they find in this book.
orygunn's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting examination of discovering faith in your teens. Well written and a quick read.
raohyrule's review against another edition
4.0
I have a massive soft spot in my heart for angsty, philosophical contemporaries with oppositional defiant disorder inflicted teenage boy narrators.
Especially when they have to do with rebelling against organized religion.
This one fell only just a little short for me. Mostly because of the trace amounts of sexism (though I’ve come to expect it when reading within this particular niche genre).
Still fun though and had some good quotes.
Especially when they have to do with rebelling against organized religion.
This one fell only just a little short for me. Mostly because of the trace amounts of sexism (though I’ve come to expect it when reading within this particular niche genre).
Still fun though and had some good quotes.