izzy's pop star plan

Izzy's pop star plan is a book about a 14 year old girl who dreams of being a pop star. She lives in Hollywood with her dad and brother. Izzy's mother died and we see her struggle with that throughout the book. Izzy gets a chance to live out her dream of being the worlds next singing sensation when she competes on the hit TV show International Pop Star Challenge. As she travels and performs we see God at work in her life. Izzy's faith is tested throughout the book and we see how her freinds and family help her get through it. The lesson that she learns is that being faithful to God and serving him should always come before personal success.
I love the fact that this book is a devotional book that is short and easy to read. Izzy blogs about each day, there is a verse to go with each page as well as a prayer. Her prayers are short and sweet, and to the point. The bottom of each page includes comments that are posted by her friends, it gives more insight as to what is happening in Izzy's life. The kids can also go online and watch videos of izzy, great idea and really connects the kids to her character.
This is a great devotional that I would recommend to any 9-12 year old. Our kids are living in a "Stardom" age. With all the reality shows like American Idol our kids are bombadred with the wrong messages. What better way to teach them about choices and success than through materials they can relate to like this great book!

girl talk with God

Girl talk with God is a fresh new devotional for girls that teaches them how to talk to God through prayer. Susie Shellenburger gives examples of intimate conversations that young girls may experience when they open up and listen for God's voice. The book is broken up into 23 chapters or "talks" with a variety of issues facing girls today. These issues include things like cutting, sex, eating disorders, divorce as well as many other topics that our teens face today. My 15 year old read the book and really loved it, it made her think of God like a friend and helper, someone she could go to with her problems. I wish this book would have been available when I was younger, but even now this book has given me fresh insight to how kids think and how God's grace covers them. We often tell our kids to pray, sometimes even give them repetetive prayers and expect them to know what to do. Unless we equip them with examples and tools we don't help their prayer life develop. This book does just that! What an amazing tool for young girls to have! This book reveals real conversations with real answers from a God who is compassionate, full of Grace and Love but who at the same time challenges our teens to live as he has commanded. This is a great book that I would strongly recomend for anyone with teens or who works with teens.