Raising Fiat Girls: Teaching Our Daughters to Say Yes to God

As adults, we know that our daily yeses to God, no matter how small, help prepare us spiritually to say yes when we encounter significantly more difficult situations. These small practices are like calisthenics for our spiritual life, as repeated yeses to God strengthen our character, build virtue, and form us into the people He created us to be. These yeses are not only a gift to ourselves and to God, but they are gifts to our friends and family, who witness us modeling behaviors that conform to Church teaching and that build the courage and the strength to withstand and battle the evils of today.

Nowhere is modeling that behavior more important than in the home, for as parents, we are our children’s first teachers. Thus, we must equip our young ones with the right tools so they not only can say yes to God but so that they choose to say it.

Author Claire Swinarski understands how crucial this is, and her new historical fiction chapter book series for girls ages six to eleven teaches these valuable lessons. Collectively entitled the Fiat Girls, these powerful books take girls on a fictional journey to meet three young saints: St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Rose of Lima, and St. Teresa of Calcutta. Through this journey, readers will not only learn important virtues, but they will come to understand how God wants us to treat the vulnerable we encounter.

Swinarski’s new series features these three young saints as children, all of whom are facing seemingly insurmountable struggles. Yet through the people in their lives, they learn to say yes to God, and they learn that they can change the world “one yes at a time” by treating others with respect and by acknowledging their inherent dignity.

Fiat—a word meaning “let it be done”—harkens back to the words Mary spoke to the angel Gabriel when he asked her to be the mother of God. Though she didn’t know all that her future would hold, she trusted in God and said yes. Her example of unwavering trust serves as our guidepost as we too learn to say yes to God.

In a phone conversation, Swinarski shared that her love of Catholicism, her passion for the saints, and her desire for young girls to have holy role models are what inspired her to write these beautiful stories. She explained, “I wanted to take saints down from their statues, out of their textbooks, and remind young girls that these are real people and that we are all individually called to sainthood and that through baptism we are given the graces to achieve it.”

Swinarski explained that “each story has something different to give” readers and will help them explore their faith and how to live a virtuous life. The stories will teach girls to look outside of themselves, to develop empathy for the poor, the sick, and the lonely, and to stand up for the vulnerable who cannot defend themselves. Additionally, each of the three young saints featured in these books faced struggles and suffering in her own life, and Swinarski wanted to “walk through for young girls what it looks like to have holy suffering.”

For example, she explains that Sisters, School, and Something More, the story of a young St. Therese of Lisieux, illustrates “how to suffer well in a holy way.” Therese is dealing with the difficulties of going from homeschool to an actual school. Swinarski believes this theme can resonate with many young girls facing the same transition. In addition, St. Therese is facing the loss of her beloved sister, who is preparing to leave for the convent, and the sorrow and loneliness she feels will resonate with kids facing these same challenges.

In Finding Her Voice and Leading with Love, her story about a young Mother Teresa, Swinarski focuses on the saint’s leadership qualities, and young girls will learn how to use their own voices to lead “with love and in a Godly way, not a worldly way.”

Finally, in True Beauty and Being Yourself, the story of a young Rose of Lima, girls will learn how to balance inner and outer beauty and why our inner beauty is much more valuable. Swinarski says kids will learn to ask themselves, “What is true beauty, what is its purpose? What is the most important purpose in life, and how can beauty play into that?”

These are crucial virtues for young girls to develop, especially in today’s world, and they need holy role models they can learn from and emulate. As Swinarski said, “I think in the same ways that each of the girls in the books is using those around her, I hope that girls who read the Fiat Girls can use both the saints in the books but also think in their life, ‘Who’s my ally? Who’s on my team for my spiritual life?’”

Swinarski hopes that these books will fill the hearts and minds of young girls “with wonder and awe and possibility” of what they can accomplish when they say yes to God.

Each of these books offers not only engaging stories that will resonate with children from all walks of life, but each gives a glimpse into the inner struggles the girls face, along with fears, doubts, and questions as they ultimately develop a deeper trust in God. Powerful scenes throughout the books will guide young girls, encourage them to reflect on the value and dignity of all people, and help them see the world through God’s eyes rather than their own. The superb dialog will help kids talk through their own fears as they come to understand what’s truly important in life. And a bio at the end of book, written by popular Catholic author Amy Welborn, emphasizes the concepts and virtues covered in the story.

As parents, we know that the “values” that shape the world are not the values that have to shape our daughters. We can and should give our daughters faith-filled tools to help them grow spiritually, and these books offer the perfect way for kids to reflect on true beauty, charity, leadership, and compassion for the poor so that they can say yes to God. Fiat Girls is not just a series title. It is a challenge for all young girls to do more than read about these saints. It is a challenge for them to take pieces of the saints’ lives and make them part of their own story, thus becoming modern-day Fiat Girls themselves.

All three books are available for pre-order at ascensionpress.com/collections/fiat-girls.

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