Bible-based exhortations specifically geared to teens form the backbone of this short devotional guide. Each section offers a different perspective on a teen’s religious life. “A Prayer to Dedicate Yourself” is the opener, offered with light humor within the bold declaration, “Take it all, God!” In a description called “Who You Really Are,” the teen can honestly declare, “Apart from Jesus, dude, I totally suck!” It is this use of common, simple language, current slang, and familiar images that will engage an adolescent reader. Separate chapters or passages treat with how one should spend money, how to use music choices for worshipful purposes, understanding the totality of God’s love, seeing one’s life as good and getting better, and acknowledging God’s wisdom as the supreme authority. The teen reader is even given a way to ask God to make him or her more popular so that God’s influence can be spread.

Banks is obviously a diligent student of the Bible herself, even adding a brief multiple choice Bible quiz at the end of her book. She often intermingles quotations from, or words reminiscent of, holy scripture in her encouraging messages for her teen audience. She mixes metaphors about God’s love with incidents and concepts with which teens will readily identify. For example, in recognizing the need for spiritual strength, the teen can frankly say that God “will never abandon me like my friends did last week at skating.” Banks includes biblical references and closes her book with five lined pages where readers are invited to write down their “Personal Decrees.” This lively manual, with its teen-centered imagery, will certainly appeal to its target audience as well as to parents or caregivers looking for a way to reach out to an adolescent in need of religious guidance.

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