Honey for a Teen's Heart

After reading Honey for a Child's heart decades ago, I was thrilled to see this version geared for the teen years. A must read for parents and grandparents of teens. The first part gives ten chapters showing the value of reading good books. Part two has ten fantastic book lists, by category. Not just lists, but book descriptions, with special recommendations added, where needed. Interspersed are sidebars with information about several prominent authors. I just love this resource! n

While I purchased this book for the list of suggested reading for our literature program next year, what I got out of it was worth every penny I paid and more. My son, daughter, and I are now reading books together out loud. It is bringing us together and helping us discuss topics that otherwise might not come up. I'm a pretty smart person and I don't know why it never occurred to me to do this with my children. Perhaps I was too busy trying to survive as a single mom during their beginning elementary years. Now that they are 10 and 12, I have found that reading together helps me bond with each of them and them with each other. The author provided numerous "aha" moments for me, and I am thankful. I feel that continuing to read together will help my emerging teens remain communicative with me as they begin their move toward independence. And that I can provide them with my Christian worldview perspective no matter what we read is an added bonus. I wanted to add, if your children attend public school, pay attention to what they are reading in class and get a copy of your own to read. The teacher's insight may be different from yours and your child will appreciate that you care enough to make the effort to connect with him/her in this way.

The author give good reviews and suggestions for many books that are great for kids and young adults to read, and possibly reread. She has them categorized according to age appropriateness.

My teens are grown up and my TBR list is already longer than manageable in this life. So why would I read and recommend this book? First of all because a really good YA book can be read and enjoyed by an adult. Secondly, I like books that make me think. The subtitle of Honey for a Teen's Heart is: "Using Books to Communicate with Teens" and Hunt offers hundreds of suggestions for family read-alouds that will open up the floor for discussion of crucial subjects. Some of her choices are more gritty than I like, but probably necessary because of the sordid world we live in. Each recommendation is followed by several paragraphs of explanation about its theme or its author's world view. Very helpful! Hunt lists some classics, but since most of those are already covered in Honey for a Child's Heart, she focuses here on newer books aimed at teens. Since I abhor most of the rubbish that has been written for young people in the last 60 years, I'm thankful for someone like Gladys Hunt who has sifted through the chaff and brought out the wheat.

Love these books! Reading them made me feel as though she was with me guiding me to spend quality time with my daughter. It is so very rewarding finding a good book and reading it with my 12 almost 13 year old daughter. Even her friends when they sleep over ask me to read to them one of the many books we read together. These books have given me great memories and a life I wouldn't have had otherwise. Enjoy!

Outdated but great book ideas

We started with Honey for a child’s heart and have graduated to this. Both are invaluable to keep smut out of your home. I can’t recommend it enough.

I had no idea there were books like this that helped review and help parents choose books wisely for their children. Mine read voraciously so finding good books in the library has become challenging after a while as there are so many books I do not want my children reading, but how to sort through the good, the bad and the stupid? This is a great start - I highly recommend it if you find yourself struggling with book choices and you care what enters your children's mind.