About

Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints is an illustrated children's book about people of diverse faiths working for more love and justice in their corners of the world, even when that means rocking the religious boat. With original portraits from more than two dozen artists and engaging profiles of people from different faiths and different eras, these are stories that inspire, educate, challenge, and encourage. (There is now a companion curriculum also available for home or church use.)

Some of the people featured in this book are well known, like the beloved St. Francis of Assisi (a favorite of Hufflepuffs everywhere for his love of animals), who gave up a wealthy inheritance to serve the poor, Rumi, the Sufi poet, and Thich Nhat Hanh, the beloved teacher who developed the concept of engaged Buddhism. Some are well known, but the deep faith motivating their work is lesser known, such as Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightingale, and Mr. Rogers.

Others are less known such as Bayard Rustin, an American Quaker whose role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s is often downplayed because he was a gay man; Maryam Molkara, an Iranian Muslim transgender rights advocate; and Regina Jonas, the first female rabbi to be ordained whose story was almost lost to history.

In particular, Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints emphasizes the stories of women, LGBTQ people, people of color, Indigenous people, and others who are too often written out of religious narratives. These stories move us towards more love and a faith that works for the common good of us all.

Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints is a middle-grade nonfiction (ages 8 and up) book. You can read several sample profiles here.

Companion Curriculum

There is now a digital companion curriculum is designed to introduce children to the concepts of holy troublemaking as modeled by the people profiled in Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints, from diverse faiths, who worked for love, compassion, and justice, even when that rocked the religious boat. These lessons ask questions such as: What is holy and good trouble? What is not? What lessons can we learn from those who have gone before on this path? How do we keep our joy and inner peace while working for a world where all can flourish? What might my contribution be? You can learn more at the Curriculum page.

About the Author

This book is written by Daneen Akers, a teacher, writer, and mother who believes deeply in the power of stories. Her past projects have explored faith, identity, and belonging. She is the mother of two children, and they have been primary motivators for her writing about a faith that works for the common good.

Daneen found that most of the books she’d read as a child that had anything to do with faith were not compatible with the type of faith she now has as an adult and parent. She knew she needed better stories for her own children, stories that help us transcend fears, connect with each other, engage in justice, and model an expansive and fully inclusive view of the Divine.

She'd removed a lot of faith-based materials from her home that no longer fit, but she realized there weren't a lot of options for replacing those resources.

As a storyteller, the clearest place for her to start adding back to their bookshelves was to tell stories about people of faith who have been motivated by a vision of a loving, just, and compassionate Divine, people whose faith works for the common good of us all.

Some of Daneen’s previous projects include the Seventh-Gay Adventists documentary and Outspoken short documentary film series.

About the Publisher

Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints is published by Watchfire Media, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity. Watchfire Media produces life-affirming, spiritually expansive books and films for the spiritually unconventional who have children in their lives whom they want to be comfortable with the big questions of faith and meaning, awed by the beauty of the world and her people, and ultimately committed to love, kindness, courage, and justice.