LIS Spring 2012 Jennifer Palermo & Russ O’Brien Image by Blue Train Books

 Precursor to Christian Fiction is The Bible  First example of Christian fiction being like modern fiction is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (1678)  One notable example of highly readable British fiction is The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith  A very important figure of Victorian fiction is George MacDonald ( ). All of his books feature religious inquiries. The Complete Fairy Tales and Phantastes: A Fairie Romance particularly influenced C.S. Lewis

 C.S.Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters (1943)  C.S.Lewis’ The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe (1950)  J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy ( )  Elizabeth George Speare’s Bronze Bow (1962)  Catherine Marshall’s Christy (1967)  Hannah Hurnard’s Hind’s Feet on High Places (1975)

 Powerhouse sellers boost the popularity of CF, and assist the crossover of young adult readers  Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly (1979)  Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness (1986)  Jenkins & LaHaye’s Left Behind (1995) becomes first book in fastest-selling fiction series ever

 Bethany House  Crossway  Faith Words  Multnomah  NavPress  Steeple Hill  Thomas Nelson  Tyndale House  Waterbrook  Zondervan

 Positive  Lacks objectionable content:  Profanity  Nudity  Sex (tastefully done)  Reflects a “Christian worldview”  Promotes family values

 Too high of a suspension of belief required ▪ Unrealistic depictions  Trying to mimic the trends  Not enough world-building ▪ Doesn’t hold interest of reader  Unreliable reader reviews

 Melody Carlson  Focus on realism and difficulties of Christian life  Ted Dekker  Focus on thriller and suspense  Karen Kingsbury  Focus on contemporary Christian fiction  Stephen Lawhead  Focus on speculative and historical fiction  C.S. Lewis  Focus on fiction and theological essays  Madeleine L’Engle  Authored A Wrinkle in Time, Newbery Medal ’63, Focus on Science Fiction

 Above the Line series- Karen Kingsbury  Acts of Faith series- Davis Bunn, Janette Oke  A Matt Davis Mystery s eries- Joe Perrone Jr.  Dylan Foster s eries- Melanie Wells  The Cosmic Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis  Left Behind s eries- Jerry Jenkins, Tim LaHaye

 Any genre that appears in mainstream fiction can be in CF  The major genres include: ▪ Sci-fi/Fantasy (AKA Speculative fiction) ▪ Historical ▪ Contemporary ▪ Thrillers and Suspense ▪ Mystery ▪ Romance

 Depends on the setup of individual libraries ▪ If the genres are separated, then give CF its own section ▪ If not, integrate with the rest of fiction ▪ Age appropriateness should still apply  Young YA CF should be shelved with Young YA  YA can be shelved with either YA or Adult depending on protocol

 oks/genre-fiction/christian-fiction/fiction- short-takes/#_ oks/genre-fiction/christian-fiction/fiction- short-takes/#_    athomewithchristianfiction.blogspot.com/ athomewithchristianfiction.blogspot.com/

 Depends on several factors  Community ▪ See what they have to say (blogs, reviews etc)  Library policy  Selection Tools  The Librarian’s Guide to Developing Christian Fiction Collections for Young Adults- Barbara J. Walker  NoveList Plus  Traditional trade journals

 Christy Awards  Established in 2000  Annual in multiple categories  INSPY Awards  Presented by bloggers  Carol Awards  Best in CF by Traditional Publishers  ECPA Awards  Evangelical Publishers  Formerly known as the Gold Medallion

 Tyndale House was founded in Wheaton, Illinois by Dr. Kenneth Taylor in 1962 in order to publish The Living Bible. Tyndale later outgrew its space and built a new headquarters in Carol Stream, IL.  Crossway Books is headquartered in Wheaton and is a publisher of best sellers  Wheaton is the home of Wheaton College, the finest evangelical Christian college in the United States. Its Buswell Library houses the papers of Madeleine L’Engle and Christian writer Frederick Buechner