About Girl Talk: 52 Weekly Devotions
Girl Talk: 52 Weekly Devotions (2009) was written by Lois Walfried Johnson, a well-known author and one-time teacher with Writer’s Digest. The Zonderkidz-published devotion book is a paperback book with 430 pages, including the index. The list price is $12.99 and this devotional book is intended for middle schoolers (ages 9–12).
Each week’s devotion begins with a selected Scripture verse and the devotion itself — a short story about a young girl who is making some choice in her life. Whether dealing with a situation of fear, boys, belonging, resourcefulness, friendship, etc., the stories are designed to help girls relate to situations in their own lives and get them thinking.
Following the inspirational story are 7 days worth of questions, with
space provided for the girls to jot down their answers. (Thus the subtitle, 52 Weekly Devotions, is not quite accurate since there are activities and questions for each day surrounding a weekly story.) An example of a reflection question from Week 1 Are you a Quitter? is “Have there been times when you felt that God wanted you to keep trying, even though it was hard? Give examples.” Or from Secrets of the Heart, the challenging question is “What does it mean to be a whole person? What does it mean to be a person valued by God?”
After the daily questions is a prayer that the girls can either use as a guide for crafting their own prayers or can pray as written. One such example from Piece of Cake says, “Thank you, Jesus, that you teach me step by step. Help me to be honest in each step so that I’m ready to go on to new privileges. Help me to have integrity — to do what is right, even when you and I are the only ones who known about it. Thank you!”
What I Liked About Girl Talk
I liked that the girls are encouraged to answer weekly questions that get them thinking carefully about their own lives and how to apply the principles from the story to their own unique situations. I like that instead of one weekly chunk, with nothing in between, the girls are being encouraged to touch base with God each day. I also think the questions could be a great conversation starter for parents and young teens to connect.
What Readers Should Know
While I did not read every story, I did browse through several of the inspirational tales. A few of the stories may not be applicable for every girl, and some parents might feel a few are inappropriate, especially depending on her age and maturity level. For example, one of the stories is about a young girl whose mother leaves her alone at night to go out on a date. The moral of the story was particularly good though and raised some interesting questions for a girl to consider.
I think that for a mid-teen, perhaps 14 or older, the book would raise some good questions and challenging thoughts. I would think that the devotions need to be read and discussed with a parent, rather than alone. Perhaps it could be a great chance to talk together once a week and read over the story. I’m not sure all parents would feel comfortable giving the book to younger teens unsupervised.
Some parents, on the other hand, might reason that these are things many teens will face anyway or their friends from school, church and elsewhere will face, so why not let them work through the process of making their own decisions. Either way it seems some guidance from a caring, involved parent would be best.
Take a look at further reviews or purchase your own copy of Girl Talk: 52 Weekly Devotions by Louis Walfried Johnson.
**This book was provided to Untrained Housewife by Zondervan Books for purposes of review.**
I may have to try this book. Being that I received an “instant” daughter and have not really had the time to prepare myself for what is to come, I really think a book like this would help me as well. Not that any mom is prepared for a girl growing into a young woman, but usually moms have time to start them out right ~ I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do with her :o)