Books are an important and relevant origin of knowledge, information on experience. Every individual on Earth who is tagged or seen as successful has a direct or indirect connection to books, and just like the popular saying, “Readers are Leaders”.
On the contrary, it is not always about reading books of multiple pages or book counts. It is instead more about applying the information gotten from the book. This is why it is best to read books that have transforming and positive influence on the mind. A book with reliable and responsible information helps to shape the outputs of the brain, the mind and the overall lifestyle of the individual involved.
For teenagers and young adults, there is a long list of books that the random teenager loves to read – from fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies and biographies, history, politics, religion, fashion, travel, love, romance, entertainment and every other subject that catches fantasy. This is because every human being has the ability to choose one thing from the other – the power of the will.
Due to this ability to choose interests, strange books like the Seven Books of Moses and the popular Harlequin Romance novels fall in the hands of teenagers.
Just as there are great and healthy books to read, there are also books that are unhealthy for a growing teenager.
For many teenagers, they come in contact with these books through peer influence, family, media and other similar loose openings around them.
This births a Question. If we say a book has the ability to shape our thoughts, then what kind of book is best advised for a growing teenager? The answer is straight enough – books that reflect positive morals, healthy habits, proper career paths and relationship building with people.
This means that the average book list for a teenager should contain books in these select categories.
Let’s see a few titles of Christian Books for teenagers and create our book list:
Please note that these are not necessarily the ten best books your teens will read in their lifetime. Not all of these books will stand the test of time as Christian classics. But each of them is suited to twenty-first century teenaged readers and together they will provide a foundation for the Christian life that will prove both deep and wide. I list them in no particular order.
1. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
This book is a religious allegory. The novel is a symbolic vision of the good man’s pilgrimage through life. It helps you learn what God requires from you as you move in your Christian journey.
2. Habits of Grace by David Mathis
This book proves that a habit is birthed as a result of consistency. This book teaches the reader to cultivate healthy habits towards God and people around us.
3. Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
This is a book that teaches on choice and life decisions, especially as regards career paths. According to the book, redesigning career and life is possible at any age, so teenagers are not left out.
4. Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach
Caleb Kaltenbach was raised by homosexual parents. He discusses in this book, principles and instructions from God that has helped him “love your neighbor as yourself” despite the discord caused by the LGBT (LGBT (or GLBT) is an initial that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community in the church. Its explanation also dwells on the knowledge of God as Love.
5. Finally Free by Heath Lambert
This is a book that teaches the upright principles and standards of God channeled towards conquering pornography and other sexual sins. Many teenagers and young adults battle these sexual sins and this is a recommended read for them.
6. The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul.
It is rare that a book is elevated to the ranks of the classics, but The Holiness of God is a prime candidate. Sproul’s book will introduce teens to the concept of holiness, to the necessity for holiness, and to their own deep unholiness. But it will also lead them to the one who delights to make them holy even as he is holy. This book has shaped many lives and may just shape theirs as well.
7. Counter Culture by David Platt.
This is a book about issues that Christians need to be prepared to address, issues that are relevant here in the twenty-first century. The subtitle gives us details: “A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Poverty, Same-Sex Marriage, Racism, Sex Slavery, Immigration, Abortion, Persecution, Orphans and Pornography.” If your teens read this one they learn how “the gospel moves Christians to counter all of these issues in our culture with conviction, compassion, and courage.”
8. The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges.
Jerry Bridges carried out a long and faithful ministry and this book was one of his most important. In it he offers a thorough explanation of the gospel and shows how the gospel pertains to every Christian every day. Teens who read it will learn the important discipline of preaching the gospel to themselves every day and they will become convicted that the very same gospel that saved them will sustain them to the end.
9. Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper.
This book began with John Piper’s address to thousands of young adults gathered for a Passion conference. Piper laments how many people—even professed Christians—go through life with no passion for God, “spending their lives on trivial diversions, living for comfort and pleasure, and perhaps trying to avoid sin.” Teens who read this will hear Piper’s passionate warning not to waste their lives, not to waste their youth, but to “live and die boasting in the cross of Christ and making the glory of God their singular passion"
10. Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris
This is a modern book that echoes the call of Thoughts for Young Men. Written by teenage brothers, it’s an invitation to rebel against our culture’s low expectations and embrace the good, hard commands God has for us as teens. It’s a cry to embrace a vision for responsibility and faithfulness as young people
11. Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will by Kevin DeYoung
Teenage Christians are confronted with many decisions during this season. What career should I choose? Should I go to college? Who should I date? They need a biblical framework to understand the will of God. And that’s exactly what this book is. Kevin DeYoung writes with humor, candor, and keen biblical insight to provide readers with a proper understanding of how to make decisions that glorify God.
12. This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years by Jaquelle Crowe
“In a culture where many young people feel entitled and struggle through swamps of victimization, Jaquelle Crowe calls her fellow teens to Christian discipline. She wants them to choose the hard tasks, the road of discipline, the life of obedience and service to Christ, in response to the gospel of grace. May she and her fellow visionaries―and there is a growing number of them!―follow this path to the end, empowered by transforming grace.”
13. Growing in Godliness: A Teen Girl's Guide to Maturing in Christ by Lindsey Carlson
This is a good christian book for teenage girls. It’s not easy to be a teen girl. The world tells you to follow your heart, your peers encourage you to conform to their image, and even your own emotions threaten to overwhelm you. Which of us didn’t long for a trustworthy friend to guide us through those messy middle-school years? Thankfully Lindsey Carlson is that friend―warm, wise, funny, and direct―pointing teens to the only source of certainty and hope in a confusing world. Again and again, she brings girls back to God and his word, encouraging teens to shake off the worldliness that stunts their spiritual growth and to reach instead for Christ alone.
14. The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless by Charlotte Markey
Charlotte Markey offers a comprehensive, direct and supportive guide for girls to build positive relationships with their bodies. Her friendly, conversational style will engage tween girls and support them to resist the disruptions in embodiment that are so common in the adolescent years.'
Through this easy-to-read and beautifully illustrated guide, Dr Markey teaches girls how to nurture both mental and physical heath to improve their own body image, shows the positive impact they can have on others, and enables them to go out into the world feeling fearless.
15. The Ultimate Self-Esteem Workbook for Teens: Overcome Insecurity, Defeat Your Inner Critic, and Live Confidently by Megan MacCutcheon LPC
A teenager’s journey to self-understanding, self-compassion, and a healthy self-esteem is often an arduous and confusing one. This engaging workbook gently guides teens to examine the value they place on themselves and how to increase it. It is a trusty tool to be used independently, as well as in individual and group therapy settings.
Are there books you think should be on this list? Please tell us in the comments section below.
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