Godless

Godless

By: Pete Hautman

Simon Pulse, 2004



When Jason Bock's parents force him to attend "Teen Power Meetings" sponsored by the Catholic Church he decides to make his own customized religion. He calls it the Church of the Ten-legged God or CTG for short and they worship the water tower He convinces his strange friend Shin and his ordinary friend Dan to join and they call themselves Chutengodians. When Henry's friend from the TPO meetings, Magda, decides to join then Henry Stagg wants to join to. Things go wry when they decide to climb the water tower and get caught among other things. Jason is grounded and his father tries to steer him in the right direction. What exactly is the right direction though?



Personal Review: This book is great. It was very easy to read, it didn't get boring. It is very funny, the main character, Jason Bock, who narrates the novel speaks just a fourteen/fifteen year old kid. The concerns Jason has are very realistic. He doesn't believe in God because he can't see God. So why not believe in something that you can see and touch? Jason also doesn't realize that his friends actually listen and believe the things he says until his father points this out. I think that a lot of kids are like Jason, they have questions about religion but he doesn't care enough about figuring it out to put in the effort required to gain understanding. Jason just wants to have fun, he's more interested in girls than in God. This book might raise some questions with a few youth but I think the majority will find this book easy to relate to and entertaining.
Warning: This book does have strong language and can be viewed as blasphemous, beware of this before you start reading the book. and realize that this is written from the point of view of a teenager.
208 pages