David Seidman has written books all over the young adult spectrum ranging from one about an American Idol contestant to a Spider-Man story to more serious subjects such as teenage life in Iran and South Africa. He has also written for the Los Angeles Times.
His latest project is one that I am really optimistic about.
Seidman wants to write about life as a teenage atheist (or Agnostic, non-theist, etc.) and he needs your help. He would like to talk to some of you about your lives and experiences.
The book would be directed to teenagers who are realizing their own atheism and for people who want to understand them better.
Among the questions he’d like to hear your responses to:
- If you were raised with religion, how did you become an atheist?
- If you were raised without religion, how have you dealt with being part of a minority group? For instance, how have you handled relationships with believers, religious holidays like Christmas, and other aspects of growing up without a church?
- If you’ve told your family and friends that you’re an atheist, how did you tell them, how did they react, and (if the reaction was unfavorable) how have you dealt with their reaction?
- Has being an atheist affected your life in school, in dating and in other areas?
- What do you like most about being an atheist, and what’s the biggest problem that you’ve faced?
If you would like to participate in this project, you can contact David directly.
I imagine a lot of you are past the teenage years and that’s fine, but there is a caveat for those of you under the age of 18:
Anyone under 18 who would like to be a part of this book must give me parental permission first. Parents can e-mail me their permission (or their questions about my book).
I know that makes it tough for teens to participate if they haven’t come out to their parents yet, but there are hopefully enough of you who are able to help out so that this project can come to fruition.