Mrs. Gallagher's Book Group discussion

where Musa lived before Alfea. Her mom died when she was very little.

For my first independent reading book, I chose the book Godless by Pete Hautman. Though claiming to be a novel at face value, this book's receiving of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature comes in a cleverly masked piece on religion and human nature.
Godless follows the tale of Jason Bock, a teenager growing increasingly disillusioned by his family's Catholic faith. As a result, he simply creates his own: Chutengodianism, worshipping the town's water tower. Through the novel, the religion begins picking up an unlikely band of worshippers, ranging from "Shin", the quintessential outcast of modern society who becomes the religion's only true follower, to Henry Stagg, the malicious member who begins to expand the religion in new-and dangerous ways.
The manner in which this novel succeeds is by painting an interesting picture of religion and its place in mankind. First, the most obvious example, I believe Pete Hautman is using Chutengodianism as a way of making a point. The conflict between it and more real religions almost mirrors what undoubtedly occured when ancient spirituality encountered alternate, possibly more absurd view points. Second, the development of the religion creates an interesting point on the challenge of controlling a religion, no matter what size. As the novel progresses, even this "religion" of 6 followers begins to decay, in particular with Shin beginning to believe the religion as fact.
However, that's not to say this novel is without fault. To start, the novel felt very, very short. Reading, the ending surprised me, not in its quality, but in how abruptly it seemed to come about. So much more could have been said in this novel, but any hope of that was destroyed upon sight of the last page. Second, the novel seems to lack a clear ending. A main suspense point occurs with a passable resolution, and then it just...ends, not with a bang but a whimper.
In summary, Godless is a good, light read with a clear indication of quite a bit of thought compressed into its pages.