Guest Blog: 5 Young Adult Books With Themes Of Forgiveness

I am a big believer in the power of stories. People have been using stories for all of human history to pass on knowledge and wisdom, to teach important truths, to try to understand difficult concepts. There's just something about a story that reaches a person on a deeper level—helps us understand ourselves, and others, better.

This is why I love reading (and writing) noblebright fantasy especially: if stories can have such a big impact on me, I want to seek out the stories that follow characters worth learning from: characters with morals, characters who want to help others and do good, even if they sometimes go about it imperfectly.

Nearly all of my favorite stories are in this noblebright vein; they're stories with themes that speak to our souls and guide us towards what is good, true, and beautiful. One such theme is forgiveness; forgiveness is such a complex topic, one that we all wrestle with in our own lives—from forgiving a sibling for breaking our stuff, to forgiving someone for betraying our trust or hurting us... It's not an easy topic, or an easy thing to do.

Here are five stories that grapple with forgiveness in many forms, that show characters struggling to do what's right even when it's hard.

1. Pursuit of Shadows

It takes a lot of searching to find the true stories, the ones that reveal people's humanity instead of crushing them beneath the weight of hatred.

In Pursuit of Shadows by JA Andrews, Will is a Keeper in a hostile land, on a hunt to find his sister. On his quest, he faces down his greatest enemy, and is forced to choose: hatred, or forgiveness? This is a poignant story full of nuggets of truth(as are all of Andrews' books), of friendships and forgiveness and hope.

2. A Thieving Curse 

She must marry a prince for the good of her kingdom...but the man cursed with dragon features who saved her life is the wrong prince.

A unique Beauty & The Beast retelling, A Thieving Curse by Selina R. Gonzalez follows Raelyn as she learns to look past prejudices to the heart of a person. A tale of forgiveness, self-sacrifice, trust, and love in all its forms, even when we least expect it.

3. & 4. Songs of the Piper duology

When the Pied Piper came, only three children remained. One was deaf and one was blind.

Silent Melody and Enchanted Melody by Alice Ivinya start out as a Pied Piper retelling that turns into a tale of redemption and forgiveness. When Adelaide's sister is taken by the Pied Piper, Adelaide will do whatever she can to save her. Even forgiving the man who took her sister—and helping him learn to forgive himself.

5. Of Stormlarks and Silence

True forgiving is a constant choice. Choosing every day to put the anger aside, to choose to love even when love isn't deserved.

In Of Stormlarks and Silence by Constance Lopez(yours truly), Riona will do anything to get her kingdom back from the cruel king who stole it a decade before. But when she's faced with the choice between vengeance or justice, her decision will affect not only her kingdom, but her very heart and soul.