Say a Little Prayer

In this brash and irreverent novel, Voris (Every Time You Hear that Song) employs comedic energy to critically outline one bisexual teen’s relationship with religion. Seventeen-year-old theater kid Riley Ackerman faces suspension after she slaps a classmate for shaming her older sister about her abortion. To avoid administrative punishment, which would result in her removal from her high school musical production, Riley elects to write an essay on the seven heavenly virtues and spend her spring break at a Baptist church youth camp, despite having avoided church for the past year: “I don’t want to sit in a musty chapel and listen to Pastor Young talk about all the different ways I’m going to hell.” At camp, she grapples with childhood insecurities surrounding her congregation’s teachings, catches feelings for the pastor’s daughter, and endeavors to “prove Pastor Young wrong by committing all seven deadly sins.” Conversations regarding the effects of Riley’s predominantly white Midwestern Baptist community’s ideals on morality and her sense of self are handled with verve via incisive prose and the protagonist’s acerbic, self-assured narration. Ages 12–up. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency. (Mar.)