New Faith Fiction for the New Year
Marissa Creamer

Begin your new year with a novel from a new author. These three debut novels shake up the convention of the traditional faith fiction genre:

"I did not expect to meet the Angel of Death while he was extricating himself from a washing machine. Actually I wasn't really expecting to meet the Angel of Death at all. Not this soon. Not in this place. Yet there he was, slowly unwinding himself from Dixie Manufacturer's finest front-loading commercial washer, twisting and turning and pulling his full body up and over the rim and out onto the laundromat floor." With an opening like that, I had a hard time putting down "Saving Erasmus," Steven Cleaver's debut novel. And the tale only gets stranger as it proceeds. Andrew Benoit, fresh seminary graduate, encounters the Angel of Death, who informs him he has one week to save the tiny town of Erasmus from destruction. It seems the town has lost its faith, and it's up to Andrew to help them find it. He is assisted by a band of mystics who meet at the Instant Coffee Cup and is guided by visions from the Velveteen Rabbit and Homer Simpson, among others. The editor describes this wacky tale, which was recently named one of "Publisher's Weekly's" Best Books of 2007, as a sort of Angel of Death meets "It's A Wonderful Life."

Leaper: the Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero" by Geoffrey Wood brings us the adventures of a new superhero: James, the over-caffeinated coffee barista who suddenly develops the ability to leap through space. James is a reluctant and neurotic hero ("You can never worry too soon"). We see him grapple with controlling his new ability ("Like a butterfly in a bad breeze, I'm all over the place.") as he attempts to make sense of it all. Is this a gift from God? Is he obligated to use his power to do good deeds? (Does he need a cape?) This quirky debut novel made me laugh out loud, but its deeper message about the purpose of our gifts and the meaning of redemption and faith is thought provoking and profound.

Another "Publisher's Weekly" Best Book selection for 2007 is "Feeling For Bones" by Bethany Pierce. "At the age of sixteen, I suffered recurring nightmares. I was running as hard as I could while my destination on the horizon receded to a pinpoint and vanished like the white pop of an old television screen winking out. Awake, I lay in a trance at the bottom of a pool, suffocating beneath an invisible, silent weight: people's voices reached my ears across a great distance, and the reflection of my body was always before me, wavering in myriad and grotesque distortions." For Olivia, the year a scandal forces her father to lose his position as pastor of their church is a time of troubled dreams and distorted images. The budding artist's unhealthy self-image leads to an eating disorder. As she struggles to overcome her anorexia she learns much about faith, family, self-acceptance, and starting over.

Start out your new year with one of these new faith fiction novels. You can find them at Rowan Public Library.