Bible Review: NIV Bible for Teen Girls: Growing in Faith Hope and Love

NIV Bible for Teen Girls: Growing in Faith, Hope and Love.  Zondervan, 2015, 1728 pages.  (available in hard- and soft-cover editions)

Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12

Hardcover edition

Hardcover edition

Recommended for: ages 11-16

Bottom Line: The NIV Bible for Teen Girls is physically attractive and encouraging, but the added features are not as deep and thought-provoking as other teen Bibles.

A pretty cover and engaging features (highlighted by pink text, of course) make this Bible appealing to teen girls, but its years of use may be limited.  This is more a devotional than a study Bible; the main difference is that devotional Bibles tend to be more feeling-based and less knowledge-based, and I have yet to see one that strikes a useful balance between feeling and knowledge (though the ESV God Girl Bible comes close).  The added features are fairly standard and issue-oriented (issues like self-image, acceptance, peer pressure) but doctrinally sound and not too self-centered.  The sheer number of one-page devotionals in this Bible make it stand out from most—about 360, many of them drawn from previously-published devotional books and authors.  These are indexed according to topic in the appendix.  The other distinction is an unusually large concordance: almost 80 pages, small print.  One-page book introductions are arranged in two columns, with the left side listing characters, chronology and familiar verses, facing a brief synopsis of the book and its major themes.  “Women of the Bible” sketches round out the features.

After surveying several “girls’ Bibles,” I would pass on buying one for my granddaughters.  I’m a firm gender complementarian, but would like to see a little more substance among all the pink and turquoise.

Value: 3.5 (out of 5)

For our previous Bible posts, type “Bible Reviews” in the search box and keep scrolling.  And here’s our post on Choosing Your Child’s First REAL Bible and our Comparison of major Bible translations.

Categories: Young Adults, Middle Grades, Bibles and Bible Stories, Gift Books

Cover image from amazon

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Janie Cheaney

Janie is the VERY senior staff writer for Redeemed Reader, as well as a long-time contributor to WORLD Magazine and an author of nine books for children. The rest of the time she's long-distance smooching on her four grandchildren (not an easy task). She lives with her equally senior husband of almost-fifty years in the Ozarks of Missouri.

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