Year after year, the Rooted content team considers our annual book awards one of the highlights of the year! We are always eager to see what is new and edifying for youth ministers, parents, and teenagers, and we do what we can to vet resources you can trust. Hopefully you will find some potential Christmas gifts among our selections! Below are the winners in each of our four categories: Youth Workers, Parents, Bible Teaching, and Teenagers.
And just for fun, we’re excited to share that our new Christmas devotional for teenagers, Longing for Christmas, was chosen as a finalist for Christianity Today’s Book Awards in the Young Adults category. Written by a team of our own Rooted writers, this book centers on the Old Testament prophesies about Jesus. We hope that you and the teenagers you love find Longing for Christmas a joyful and encouraging way to study the birth of our Savior in the days leading up to Christmas.
Best New Books for Youth Workers Winner:
The (Not-So-Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation by Kevin DeYoung
There is not another writer who can pack such a strong punch with so few words like Kevin DeYoung can. In The (Not So Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation, DeYoung offers a clear, compelling message about how youth pastors, leaders, and churches can effectively engage and disciple the next generation of Christians. The author pushes past the noise of trendy methods and cultural fads, focusing instead on the enduring principles of gospel-centered ministry.
The book explores the foundational truth that the “secret” to reaching today’s youth is not found in new strategies or flashy programs, but in the timeless power of the Bible. DeYoung argues that the church’s primary task is not to entertain or cater to fleeting cultural norms, but to faithfully share, teach, and model the truth of Scripture. Through Bible-centered teaching, living life together, and gospel-driven discipleship that lives out the truths learned, the church can make a lasting impact on the lives of young people.
The book is filled with practical viewpoints and deep wisdom on how to disciple the next generation in a world that is often opposes Christian values. DeYoung encourages parents, youth pastors, and leaders to maintain a long-term perspective, reminding them that while trends may change, the gospel remains the forever foundation on which all effective ministry is built. This is a call to all Christian families and churches to stand strong on biblical authority, engaging young people with passion and love, directing them to holiness and truth that helps them see the great God we serve.
Best New Books for Parents Winner:
Parenting without Panic in an LGBT-Affirming World: Discipling Our Kids with Jesus’ Truth and Love (A Christian Parent’s Guide to What the Bible Says About Sex, Sexuality, Gender, and Relationships) by Rachel Gilson (The Good Book Company)
Just as the title suggests, Rachel Gilson’s book removes the many layers of panic when it comes to talking to our children about sex and sexuality. She offers clear language for parents to use when approaching conversations on LGBT-related topics, first reminding the reader of the impact sin has had on ALL of us. In her book she says, “If we approach LGBT+ questions as if brokenness and sin is only out there and not first in ourselves, we will tell a lie. We need the gospel first ourselves” (p.46).
Gilson helped me view the questions my children may ask as opportunities for gospel conversations and expressing gospel hope. She helps the reader to see that the LGBT+ community should be seen as a mission field to “love and pray for, rather than to judge or fear” (p.62). I was so convicted and humbled as I read, and also grateful to be equipped to help guide my children more purposefully.
Gilson’s book helps us to distinguish the difference between recognizing the experiences of those who identify as LGBT+ without affirming and adopting their view. She helps us shift our posture toward a community we often fear. This shift allows us to teach our children how Christ followers are to respond.
Furthermore, at the end of each chapter, Gilson offers suggested practices for parenting as well as one sentence takeaways. This book is incredibly valuable in helping Christian families be a better model of Christ to our children and to all who do not yet know Jesus.
Best New Books for Bible Teaching Winner:
Are We Living in the Last Days? Four Views of the Hope We Share About Revelation and Christ’s Return by Bryan Chapell (Baker Books)
Few theological debates are as charged in the church today as the timing and nature of Jesus’ return. In Are We Living in the Last Days, Brian Chapell explains the four major views on eschatology (i.e. end times theology). This accessible book will help youth ministers navigate potential land mines in the church with the grace of the gospel.
Chapell himself adheres to a covenantal reading of the Bible that informs his own eschatology. In this book, however, he seeks to fairly represent the four main positions on the issue (Dispensational Premillennialism, Historic Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism), unpacking some strengths and challenges of each in biblical interpretation.
Note that this book is not part of the “Four Views” series, in which four different scholars represent their own positions and interact with one another’s views. Instead, Chapell writes more informationally, rather than in effort to persuade readers to his own view, making the book especially straightforward to read. He gives special focus to what the four views hold in common, which will be helpful to youth ministers seeking to shepherd teenagers and adults.
Youth ministers feeling uncertain about which position best fits their reading of Scripture as well as Bible teachers hoping to present texts such as Daniel 9 and Revelation with charity toward fellow believers will appreciate this book. In addition to providing a helpful refresher on eschatology, it’s a book youth ministers could share with a layperson or even a mature teenager.
Best New Books for Bible Teaching Winner:
The Justice and Goodness of God: A Biblical Case for the Final Judgment by Thomas Schriener (Crossway)
Teenagers often have questions about God’s judgment in the Bible, whether related to the curses associated with the covenant in the Old Testament or Jesus’ teaching about hell in the New Testament. Tom Schriener’s The Justice and Goodness of God provides a valuable overview for youth ministers seeking to present the full gospel in the Bible’s own terms.
In this concise book, Tom Schriener offers a survey of key texts, explaining how they develop a Christian theology of God’s judgment. His writing proves clarifying and helpful for those versed in the languages as well as for lay people. Schreiner takes the uncomfortable truth of God’s judgment and shows how it affirms God’s justice, without which the world would be chaotic and meaningless. He regularly addresses the popular view of annihilationism and gently but firmly contends for a different reading of the text. Consider reading this theologically rich book alongside a mature student who has questions about God’s judgment.
Youth ministers reading will walk away poised to tackle some of the most sensitive questions that emerge as we study the Bible with teenagers.
Best New Books for Teenagers Winner:
More to the Story: Deep Answers to Real Questions on Attraction, Identity, and Relationships by Jennifer M. Kvamme (The Good Book Company)
If not purity culture, then what? Jennifer Kvamme’s More to the Story invites teenagers to honestly engage complex topics of sexuality, identity, and relationships from a biblical perspective. Instead of giving students a clean list of “dos and don’ts,” Kvamme’s approach starts and ends with the gospel, situating our body, identity, gender, and desires within the redemptive narrative God is writing. In God’s story, these things were made good, are now broken, but are promised redemption. Within this context, each chapter unpacks questions like, “How do I figure out what really makes me me?” and “Why does God care what I do with my body (if I’m not hurting anyone)?” With each question, Kvamme confronts the real messiness in our lived experiences, and she offers life-giving truth and practical advice in light of the gospel.
What drew me to More to the Story was not only Kvamme’s commitment to Scripture as the basis for understanding who God is and what human beings are made for, but also her tone of compassion, honesty, and non-anxiousness. Kvamme honors the diversity of experiences teens bring to the table when asking these tough questions, and her writing reflects a trust that God really does satisfy all our deepest longings. Teenagers who read More to the Story will leave with both a view of our sexuality, bodies, and identities as purposed gifts from God and a sense of his deep love.
“There’s little doubt, even from a purely scientific look at our physical design, that our bodies were made for intimacy with another…even if the details of who and when and how have less agreement. What we’re about to see is that all of this is good. It’s by design. God made our bodies and our hearts to crave intimacy and togetherness…But what we’re also going to see is why God designed us that way. Spoiler alert: your sexuality was intended to show you how intensely he loves you” (p. 14).
