A few months ago, we held a teen fiction event at BreakPoint. I talked about it on the radio, and our website, BreakPoint.org, we devoted an entire week to reviews and recommendations of what are now called young adult novels. We covered all kinds of books and even gave you excerpts from a few of them.
The response from our audience was overwhelming. It turns out that quite a few Christian parents have been searching for good book recommendations for their teenagers and preteens. Christian teachers and librarians were interested as well. Many of you gobbled up our suggestions and eagerly asked for more.
Well, I’m happy to tell you that we have launched our new Youth Reads page at BreakPoint.org, specifically designed for parents and educators who want to find good books for this age group.
Just go to our website and look for “Youth Reads”; it’s very easy to spot. On this page, we’ll be providing short reviews of all kinds of books for teens and preteens. Maybe you’re looking for a Christian viewpoint on some hot new mainstream series that all your children’s classmates are reading. Or maybe you are trying to find something from a Christian author that your teen might like, or just trying to get an overview of what’s available in both secular and Christian fiction. Well, we’ll have all that for you and more.
We’ll cover both classic and contemporary novels. And we’ll have reviews of popular series like Twilight, Harry Potter, and His Dark Materials, and make them available on this page so you can find them again quickly and easily whenever you want.
At the same time, we’ll also provide links to outside writers who are talking about young adult fiction, so you can see what they have to say on the subject and what some of the latest trends are.
What we won’t be doing is telling you, “Yes, have your kids read this book,” or “No, don’t let them read that one.” We’re not here to make choices for you. Every teen and preteen is different, and you most likely are well aware of what your son or daughter likes and what he or she can be trusted to handle.
We’re simply here to provide information and a Christian perspective, and to help you and your kids navigate the brave new world of young adult fiction.
And we want you to participate, as well. We’ll have polls asking you about what books and series you want to see our writers review. And of course, we’ll have comment sections where you can share your opinions and ask any questions you have. If we get enough interest, eventually we’ll be launching an e-newsletter based on the Youth Reads page, which will be delivered right to your inbox.
I believe most of us would agree that there are few more important things you can give your child than a lifelong love of reading. But even more important is teaching them to read and evaluate material from a Christian worldview. Thanks to Youth Reads, you now have a tool to help you do just that.
Now, how about you? What will you be reading this summer? Well, today on my Two-Minute Warning, I talk about how we Christians can approach our summer reading with a purpose. And of course, I’ll point you to some great book recommendations. That’s the Two-Minute Warning, which you can watch at ColsonCenter.org.
This article published on July 6, 2011. Chuck Colson's daily BreakPoint commentary airs each weekday on more than one thousand outlets with an estimated listening audience of one million people. BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends via radio, interactive media and print.
