Funny, I was just thinking of this topic recently after reading some YA realistic fiction, which I hardly ever read. Themes of religion were completely absent from the book, which dealt with the death of the main character's parents. And it just seemed like, realistically, religion should be there, somehow, when a teen is dealing with the death of both his parents. Wouldn't he at least question the role of religion and an afterlife, even if he hadn't been raised to believe? Anyway, it started me thinking.

According to Wikipedia (ok, take it with a grain of salt, but still), 80% of Americans believe in God and in 2004 the US Census Bureau reported that 13% of Americans did not identify themselves as a member of any religion, which means that--bear with me here, I'm a librarian, not a mathematician--87% did. So, maybe the question should be why don't more books--YA, fantasy, adult, whatever--include religions themes, or characters who attend church or who at least ponder questions of a higher power.