The Book Stops Here: Review of Always: A Teen Devotional by Melody Carlson

It can be difficult for teenagers to understand how Jesus’ words hundreds of years ago relate to their lives today. To help teens dig deeper, bestselling author Melody Carlson releases Always, a devotional for teens that focuses specifically on helping teenagers take the teachings of Christ and apply those to their own lives, actions, thoughts and faith.

With 90 days’ worth of devotional readings in Always, Carlson takes key passages of Christ’s teachings, commands and promises from Scripture, and unlocks them, verse-by-verse for teens.

My Thoughts:

I snatched up the opportunity to review this teen devotional, published by Revell. Not only am I a fan of Melody Carlson, but I have a teenage daughter and I am constantly on the hunt for good reading material for her. Because my daughter loves the Lord and is always looking for ways to put her faith into action (I'm so proud of her!), when I read the back cover copy of Always: A Teen Devotional, it sounded like a wonderful book to feed and challenge my daughter's Christian walk.

This is a 90-day devotional that explores the words of Jesus. How cool is that? Each daily reading begins with "Words from the Rock," a specific quote from Jesus. This is followed by a 1 page devotional, a brief prayer, and a Final Word scripture that corresponds with the words Jesus spoke. Each page also includes a Stone for the Journey, which is one sentence that sums up the devotional and is an easy-to remember takeaway. (A couple examples are: "Being connected to Jesus brings life" and "My wounds draw me closer to Jesus").

As always, Melody presents her messages in a clear, easy-to-understand manner that brings God's Word to life. Specifically, she reveals that Jesus's words were not only directed towards the people in Bible times, but shows how they distinctly affect the lives of teenagers today, in regards to family, school, friends, dating relationships, and more.

A few of the titles include:

• Sacrificial Love
• Perceptions
• Stay in Love
• Spiritual Family
• Pain to Joy
• Best of Both Worlds
• Prayer Power
• Change is Good

Although the description for this devotional indicates it's more for high school age, it's my opinion that many of the devotionals can easily be understood by junior high students. I look forward to hearing my daughter's thoughts on each daily topic and discussing the impact that Jesus's words have on her life.
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Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, several of them Christmas novellas from Revell, including her much-loved and bestselling book, The Christmas Bus. She also writes many teen books, including Just Another Girl, Anything but Normal, the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, the TrueColors series, and the Carter House Girls series. Melody was nominated for a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books, including the Notes from a Spinning Planet series and Finding Alice, which is in production as a Lifetime Television movie. She and her husband serve on the Young Life adult committee in central Oregon. Visit Melody's website at www.melodycarlson.com.

*Always: A Teen Devotional available October, 2010 at your favorite Christian bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing.*

Thanks to Revell for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a positive review - the thoughts and opinions expressed were my own.