Summer is the best! I was always one of those moms who loved having her child around during the summer months. The slower pace meant there were days when we could curl up with a good book and just chill. Unfortunately, so many of the books written for pre-teens and teens (and even some for younger girls) are dark. Even if the written and unwritten moral lessons are acceptable, the books leave your daughter feeling like she has just spent hours in a horribly gloomy place. Not exactly, the “think on things that are pure and lovely” type of reading our girls really need.
Our daughter was one of those kids who read everything she could. There was no way I could read everything she did, especially before she read it. When she was younger, I would catch summaries or reviews, talk to others who might have read the book and actually did read a few myself (okay the reading addiction comes honestly!). Our search for good books, eventually led us to the Christian bookstore.
Over the years, our daughter found quite a few books she enjoyed that were written from a Christian perspective. Be aware though, a few books may contain a theology that disagrees with your understanding of the Bible and are probably best avoided. I am not going to suggest an age for reading these books – so much depends upon the reading ability, maturity, life experiences and spiritual maturity of your child.
Here were some books (thankfully some were series!) our daughter enjoyed at one point or another:
- The Sierra Jensen Collection, Vol. 1 (Only You, Sierra / In Your Dreams / Don’t You Wish)
by Robin Jones Gunn – This was a series my daughter and now my niece have enjoyed. Thankfully, they are now sold with multiple books in one.
- The Christy Miller Collection, Vol. 1 (Summer Promise / A Whisper and a Wish / Yours Forever)
by Robin Jones Gunn – Another series by the same author and packaged in multi-book volumes now. Do be aware that there are a few Christy books written for teen girls when Christy is older. They aren’t inappropriate, but you may not want your very young teens getting that caught up in boy-girl serious relationships.
- Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption by Katie Davis. Great real life story of a teen who went on a mission trip that ended up changing her life for ever.
- The Case for a Creator Student Edition: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence that Points Toward God (Case for … Series for Students by Lee Strobel. Does your daughter (or son) have questions about the Bible, God, faith, creation or more you don’t really know how to answer? Lee Strobel has a great series of books for kids and students (teens) which are simpler versions of the same books for adults. I love all of his adult books and our daughter enjoyed the student versions.
- Save the Date
by Jenny B. Jones. This is another series of books very similar in nature to those by Robin Jones Gunn, but probably for slightly older girls.
- Wait for Me: Rediscovering the Joy of Purity in Romance
be Rebecca St. James. There are actually several books written by this well known musician. She does one of the best jobs I have ever seen of talking to teen girls about purity. If you ever get the chance to see her performa and share her perspective, take your daughter. Girls respond to her because she is young, beautiful, talented and has a good looking famous musician husband (Foster the People). While they are listening out of an “I wanna be like that” mode, St. James gives them godly life lessons about purity.
Have you found other Christian books your daughters enjoyed? Do your sons have their own favorite Christian books? I would love for you to leave a comment here or come over to the Parenting Like Hannah Facebook page and make suggestions for other summer readers.
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