Faith In The Home: Summer Reading For Teens

In this Faith in the Home article, Marriage and Family Life Commission member Helvi Moore recommends two books for teenagers this summer.

While looking forward to the summer holidays, parents can often struggle to make available to their children enriching reading that can fill the lazy days of summer with a thoughtful and serious consideration of their faith. A recent trip to the United States provided me, through the courtesy of my generous friends, with an armload of resources perfectly suited to this end. In this brief article, I would like to flag up a few worthwhile suggestions in the form of two books aimed at pre-teens and teens and a simple, but effective, examination of conscience for young people.

My first recommendation is a wonderful and accessible book on the life of newly-canonised, first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, by Fr. Will Conquer. Browsing through an avalanche of books about this teenage saint, one comes across such nicknames as “God’s Influencer” and “A Saint in Sneakers” (“Trainers” for our UK readers!). This remarkable young man led a life of such normality for his generation while interiorly striving to bring everyone he met into contact with Jesus Christ and His Church, particularly through the Eucharist. His life’s project was to put together a presentation on Eucharistic Miracles that could and would reach millions via the internet. He managed to accomplish this ambition despite an early diagnosis of leukaemia shortening his life. This book provides a readable encapsulation of St. Carlo’s life, death and ambitions while also allowing thoughtful reflection and examinations of conscience at each chapter end. A perfect summer read.

For your pre-teen or teen girls, I highly recommend “Ten Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know” by Kari Kampakis. I will not tell you now what those ten ultimate truths are…but it is worth buying this book to find out. If St. Carlo is for your sons, this book is definitely for your daughters!

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