Parents and youth workers are always on the lookout for good books to press into the hands of teenagers, and with good reason. Most Christian books are written to adult audiences, and while these can certainly be useful, there is often a dearth of resources directed toward the unique challenges and joys of life as a teenager in 2022. Fortunately for both adults and youth, this year produced no shortage of great books for teenagers.
Honorable Mentions
Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? by Chris Morphew
For better or worse (mostly worse), we live in an age of identity confusion. As Carl Trueman and others have pointed out recently, modern people in the global West are forming their identities much more self-consciously than they once did. This makes the question, “Who Am I?” an increasingly central one in our lives and the lives of our students. In Who Am I and Why Do I Matter?, Chris Morphew does a wonderful job of graciously deconstructing many of the foundations that people, and especially students, build their identities on today. He humbly points out the problems with finding one’s worth in appearance, success, and social status among others. He then shows us that the only source of identity which can hold up under weight and scrutiny is the identity found in Christ by faith. If you know a student asking questions about who they are, Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? would be a great resource to hand them.
Alongside Jesus: Devotions for Teenagers by Drew Hill
I’ll admit that as a general rule, I’m skeptical of devotions. Most devotionals written in the modern era practically supplant the biblical text they claim to be based on, as can be seen by the fact that often in conversation with others people will quote the devotional entry they read instead of the biblical text which goes with it. What’s more, it’s difficult to find devotionals which interpret Christ as the fulcrum of all Scripture, which yields pages and pages of devotional text focused mainly on behavior modification to the exclusion of the Gospel. For these reasons and others, I’m even more skeptical of devotions for teenagers.
Drew Hill’s Alongside Jesus: Devotions for Teenagers is exactly the opposite of the light and breezy devotionals we’re so used to. In terms of content, Alongside Jesus points students to a flesh-and-blood Jesus, a Jesus who is a real person who really lived, died, and rose for them. This devotional is supported by longer entries which push the reader to engage with the biblical text in a deeper way, personal stories which are relatable to teens (and adults, for that matter), and helpful “Wondering” assignments at the end of selections to help students relate to the biblical story. If you’re looking for a four-week devotional to walk through with a student of yours, it would be hard to do better than Alongside Jesus: Devotions for Teenagers by Drew Hill.
Winner
Read This First: A Simple Guide to Getting the Most from the Bible by Gary Millar
The Bible is an intimidating book, but I’ve found that it’s especially so for students. It’s quite old, it’s written in a cultural context different from the one many of us live in, and there are a number of stories which offend many modern sensibilities. Gary Millar’s book speaks into this hesitancy many people have as they approach the Bible, and gives the reader a set of tools and a foundation of knowledge with which to approach God’s Word. He walks through important elements of Bible reading like acknowledging that the Bible is primarily about God (not me), how to interpret different kinds of Scripture, and how assessing the “vibe” of a passage can help give us insight into what God is saying. What really sets Millar’s book apart, though, is not its pedagogical element. What makes this book so impactful is that the reader can tell that Millar loves his Bible. That love is infectious; by the time I finished this book, I couldn’t wait to jump back into my own copy of God’s Word.
The 2022 Rooted Book Awards Team included Chelsea Kingston Erickson, Tucker Fleming, Davis Lacey, Tracy Yi, and Anna Meade Harris.
We would be remiss if we did not mention Rooted’s favorite book for teenagers: The Jesus I Wish I Knew in High School. You can find it wherever books are sold, but on the New Growth Press website, the discount code ROOTED is good for 35% off retail through 12/31/22.
To enter to win both of the parent book winners, just download our free sample of Rooted Family Discipleship!
⁃ Best New Book for Parents: Raising Emotionally Strong Boys: Tools Your Son Can Build on for Life by David Thomas
⁃ Best New Book to Talk About With Teenagers: Jesus Through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord by Rebecca McLaughlin