My Top 5 Books For Teens

I read most of these books sometime in my teen years and the ones I read later I wished I'd read sooner!!! With the exception of Gretchen Rubin's book, these are all written by Christians, are about Christians, and/or have some aspect of the Christian faith about them. However, I believe that everyone can benefit from the principles within and the lessons available, even if you are not a Christian.

Because I read so much and have read so many great books, I had to include a couple bonus titles for you :)

All That's Good by Hannah Anderson - The subtitle of this book is "Rediscovering the lost art of discernment". It's becoming increasingly harder by the day, it seems, to know what is good and what is bad; what is right and what is wrong. Using Philippians 4:8, Anderson breaks down how to learn and use discernment in your life. There are too many times when people cannot, and should not, be telling you what to think about a certain topic, so learning to reason and discern is crucial.

Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris - The teen years can be full and rich if we go into them with just a little bit of thought. We don't have to wait to make a difference until we're adults or graduated from college. In fact, our teen years are quite possibly the most free and unhindered years of our entire lives! Alex and Brett challenge the reader to use this stage, rather than waiting for life to begin.

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas - Yes, this is a big, intimidating book but there is so much richness in learning from the lives of people who have lived through challenging times before us. This is a full biography that includes selections from Bonhoeffer's own writings and shows the struggle he personally felt and that many Germans were facing in the years of Hitler's rise to power and then during WWII.

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom - Another person who lived through WWII but her experience was quite different. Corrie witnessed firsthand incredible suffering and evil and how she handled the fear is inspiring.

Jesus > Religion by Jefferson Bethke - A lot is made of Christianity being a "religion" but Bethke pushes back on that idea by showing that true believers and followers of Jesus are living out a relationship, not a list of rules. For me personally and, I believe, a lot of other teens, the transition from faith being "just what we did" as a family to becoming my own is a journey and happens in the teen years. This book can help with that transition.


Bonus Books
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin - Habit expert Gretchen Rubin talks all about habit forming and how having good habits and defeating bad habits helps us in life. Knowing your Tendency can help you make habits easier and has transformed my own life.

Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald - Outer order stars with inner order. Your visible life will not be well-ordered (or at least not for long) if your inner life is in turmoil. Lots of great insight from MacDonald on what this means for your life and how it works.

Seven Men/Seven Women by Eric Metaxas -


Any of these books would be a great gift for a graduate if they are a reader! Have you heard of/read any of these books? What did you think?