How to Stay Christian in High School

by Steve Gerali, The Navigators

We know full well the pressures and stress that high school students experience today. As if it weren’t hard enough to try to pass A.P. English, make the varsity football team, and stay out of trouble, students are constantly hearing about how they need to be a “good Christian.” It’s not easy. Being a Christian might be tough, but it’s worth it. Now updated for the next generation of teenagers going through high school, this bestselling resource teaches teens how to handle the temptations and pressures they face every day. Through reading about teenagers in the Bible who also faced huge issues in their lives, teens will be encouraged to make a difference in their world today. How to Stay Christian in High School will help teen readers grapple with their faith and make it real for whatever circumstance they face.

Genres: Christian, Religion

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2004

Reviews

[Arden]

I recommend parents look closely at the chapter on sex before deciding it's appropriate. It frames lust as an exclusively male issue, which can be harmful for girls who are experiencing their own sexual awakenings. The bible stories selected to support the message exclusively show women as whores and tempresses, he even made it a point to mention that Potiphar's wife "wasn't a hag" but "a young hot recent beauty-pageant winner." As a young girl reading this, her only take-away about her own sexuality is both that she wants to be hot (not a hag), and the other that her sexuality only exists as temptation for others, not as something God created as part of her own self.

[Lyra Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I would summarize this book like this: good ideas, poor execution. There were lots of good messages and advice, but the way the author presented it wasn’t great in my opinion.

Full review will be up on my blog.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This changed the way I entered high school. I recommend it to any high schooler.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

My kids thought the author pretending the disciples were modern teenagers was “cringe”.

[Joanna Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok book, not my favorite for teens. If you want to read biblical accounts in modern terms I suggest Liz Curtiss Higgs books.

[Jenna Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is probably best suited to someone in the 15-16 age range. It sacrifices a bit of quality for the sake of being edgy, but the writing style is an interesting concept, and would work well for some teenagers. Each chapter is about a teenager from the Bible, but what it would have been like for them in modern times, i.e. 14 year old Mary waking up one day and having to tell her dad over breakfast that an angel had visited her and told her she was pregnant, etc. Each chapter details a different story from different Biblical characters: Mary, Daniel, Joseph, James & John, and Timothy. I would recommend that you use this to supplement other books from within the same genre.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, a big shout outto the people at Tyndale Press. I was at ALA Midwinter where they were giving out books. I asked if they had this book there, but they did not. the sales rep took my name and address and mailed this copy to me. The Tyndale people are A#1!

While this book was written for high schoolers, the message is germane to everyone. It could be called how to stay Christian in life. Gerali's method is to take the lives of Biblical people and put them in the context of high school today, and how those people model how we ought to live as a Christian would. The people he discusses are Mary, Daniel, Joseph, James and John, and Timothy.

[SheWhoShallNotBeNamed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is kinda hard to rate-It just depends on how applicable it is to your life at that time you read it, I wouldn't just say it was for High schoolers, anyone can relate to it and enjoy.

One small complaint is it sort of got on my nerves how the author wrote some of the bible stories with the 'modern swing to it' Like 'Yo mates, out of the 5000+ there's only one kiddo with fish and chips.' That wasn't word for word, and some people might engage to that really well, but it just didn't really gel with me. BUT still, a well written book and a definite "Goodread" (Wow, this joke is getting old now and I'm the person saying it lol)

Thanks for reading my review!! :)

[Kameron · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book did have some great, thought-provoking material that gave us good discussion with our teens, none of us were impressed with the narratives of Biblical characters set in modern times. It seemed a bit too forced and cheesy for us and we would have liked the book more if it just directed us to the actual Bible passages of these people and maybe gave us some historical and cultural background information. We ended up skipping past the narratives to just get to the meat of each chapter.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of temptations faced by high schoolers and how they can resolve ahead of time to resist and stand strong in their faith. Modern day take on biblical teenagers adds a little bit of fun to the stories.