They're fairly juvenile, but are very very well written and deal with a few mature themes [not THOSE mature themes, people]. They're making the movies soon.
i love childrens/young adult sci fi/fantasy. madeline l'engle (a wrinkle in time) is my fav author. alot of adult sci fi seems to loose the fantasy aspect to me. i like that part. earnest sci fi is boring.
now that ive finished the books, i know what you mean. thanks for not spoiling it for me. i dont mind some biblical references but this one went a little overboard for me. the multi-world concept was really interesting as was the whole dust/shadows/conscious thing. ive avoided "growing up" and lately its become somewhat ridiculous-to myself and maybe to others. the mary malone (scientist/ex nun)character was easy for me to identify with.