YA fiction written about fundamentalism intrigues me. Knowing of my own childhood, and how it was when I was coming to terms with my own wider view of the world (as if I’m not still!), I find the act of stepping away and gaining independence from what one’s parents, peers, or ‘overlords’ think to be practically magical; common to the young adult in a conservative home, as well as one with fewer restrictions. Stepping away and thinking independently is, in one way or another a theme that constantly inhabits my fiction. 
So, it was with a great deal of interest that I read an excerpt of Kelly Kerney’s Born Again, which was reviewed in Thursday’s SF Chronicle.
The reviewer seems to be quite positively impressed by the novel, and points out that it is largely a story of courage, because it is the tale of a Bible Quiz champion who has the opportunity to go to Academic Camp, but only if she studies… Darwin. Forging her parent’s signature on the permission slip, she determines that she will go, and escape a boring summer at home. She doesn’t intend to do wrong; she simply knows her parents would be horrified if they learned what she was doing. To make it right, she means to whip out her Scriptures and put all of the Big Bang theorists to shame… But reading Darwin isn’t like how she imagines it will be. It makes her see the world in a different way.
I can’t wait to read this. If anyone has reviewed it, let me know!
Also, you might let me know to which age group the novel is targeted. The book is put out by Harcourt Trade Books, and though the protagonist is in high school, it’s not listed as a Young Adult Book. Maybe because evolution is Too Hot A Topic??
Meanwhile, what IS new from Harcourt this season is another Ursula LeGuin tale! Yay! The second in her Annals of the Western Shore series,Voices follows Gifts, for which LeGuin won a PEN USA Award last September. They’re on my list of sci-fi to read this winter. After you read those excerpts, they may be on your list too!
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy your long Labor Day Weekend! I have lovely loads of catch-up reading to do!
Born Again sounds interesting. I’m adding it to my “to read” list. Thanks for the suggestion!