[Quix]

If I may dare to 'borrow' your thread . . .

DOES ANYONE KNOW OF
ANY BOOKS
which would
PREPARE TEENS
or children of any age
for the coming
traumas?

I liked ALAS BABYLON and I think Jerry Pournelle did a good one with someone but I've forgotten the name.

But those are not particularly geared to teens, as I recall. And, I don't think the LEFT BEHIND series is quite what I want, either . . . regardless of the theology being right or wrong.

I think a book for the teens that I'm trying to find would be:

1 --attractive to the age group and not talking down to them.
2 --have at least a partial emphasis on core values.

3 --have a well integrated solid basic Christian foundations theology woven in seamlessly and inherently.
4 --reveal the capacity and essential, crucial need for HOPE--HOPING IN GOD in the midst of walking through, even sojourning through the valley of death.

5 --highlight many creative options and creative problem solving that teens and even younger children can pray through in the midst of crises.
6 --would have many examples of an inner, underlying joy in the midst of trauma and sorrow--rooted in God's provision for joy unspeakable via Christ and His Spirit regardless of circumstances.

7 --would outline and illustrate prioritizing a heirarchy of values, choices in forced choice situations that could be a starting place foundation for such but which would also emphasize learning to hear God and obey His still small voice in all situations.

- - - - -

If no one knows of such a book--is there anyone who'd be interested in collaborating toward writing/creating such a book?

And, how many of you reading this thread would consider such a book worth buying for someone you know?

In a way, I'm sort of asking--if you had been Anne Frank's parents and known 1-5 years ahead what was coming, what would you have wanted to teach her? What would you have wanted her to read?

dg62, re your request . . . if the teen or near teen is interested in sci-fi at all, I still like the Edgar Rice Burroughs MARS SERIES. If the teen is advanced sufficiently in their reading . . . C.S. Lewis' SPACE TRILOGY could be worth it. But one of those can be hard slogging for some.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

That book would be the Bible. The more you can help them read it (in a varied, not straight-through way), in it they WILL find the truth and all of the answers.

A passage from church this very night:

Psalms 101:5 -- Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.

[Quix]

PING, if you have any such input . . .

[Sam Cree]

I'm not religious, but agree that the Bible is a good choice.

But as to fiction, how about "All Quiet On The Western Front?" by Remarque? I think that could very well help prepare kids for hard times. Reading it woke me up when I was about 14.

[bootless]

How about the Heinlein juveniles? Some good self-sufficiency lessons there!

Agree with Wilder, Narnia, etc. There is also a book for young conservatives that's been out for a few years.

[ExSoldier]

My wife teaches Alas Babylon to her reading classes. She then makes them create survival checklists She then checks those lists against those posted by our very own freeper appalachian_dweller. None of those kids ever apptoaches the detail of AD. I personally read a great book of survival in the 1970's called Lucifier's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournell but that may lack the Christian theme you seek. For THAT there is only one possible choice and that is the 12 book series by LaHaye & Jenkins called Left Behind.