Friday, August 21, 2015

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

The NIV Bible for Teen Girls is a new Bible from Zondervan, specially designed for teen girls. (I received a hardcover Bible to review, but it also comes in a beautiful imitation leather/softcover.) The hardcover is printed with the image you see - there is no dust jacket.

The pages in the NIV Bible for Teen Girls are appealing and very easy on the eyes. It has all black text (including the words of Christ) with various pink accents (headings, chapter numbers, etc.), laid out in two columns. This is the NIV version of the Bible (© 1973, 1978, 1984, & 2011). The text is standard size - not large, but not extra small. It does contain some basic footnotes. There is a pretty presentation page (on glossy paper), printed with an image similar to what you see on the cover.

Some verses throughout are highlighted in pink. I could not find any explanation as to why these particular verses were highlighted. (They do not correspond with the "Verses You Might Recognize" in the book introductions, the verses to read from the devotions, or the verses to read from the "Women of the Bible" pages.)

There is a brief, single-page introduction for each book of the Bible. Each introduction covers a few basic things about the book ("When Did This Happen?", "Who Is In This Book?", "Verses You Might Recognize", and "What's It About?").

There are 366 devotions in the NIV Bible for Teen Girls - so you could easily use this for a yearly devotional. 

I do think it is important to point out that there is a reason this Bible is marked for "teen girls" and not just "girls" - the topics in a few of the devotions reference dating, breakups, sex, pornography, smoking, dark arts/occult etc. Whether or not you decide your girl (teen or otherwise) is ready to take on these topics is up to you, but I wanted to be sure to make it clear that these topics are addressed so that you can make an informed decision.

The devotions are placed throughout the Bible, and you can also find the devotions by looking at two indexes at the back of the Bible - one listed by topic ("Topical Index") and one listed in order of appearance ("Index of Devotions for Growing in Faith, Hope, and Love"). The topical index is a helpful resource and will reference a devotion multiple times if it fits into multiple categories. Some of the devotions are excerpts from other books, but some appear to be exclusive to this Bible.

In addition to the devotions, there are pages devoted to certain women of the Bible - 50 in all. These are placed throughout the Bible, and you can also find them by looking at the index at the back of the Bible ("Women of the Bible Index").

There is also a Concordance (approx. 80 pages) at the back of the NIV Bible for Teen Girls. There are no maps like you might find in the back of some Bibles. 

All in all, I think that the NIV Bible for Teen Girls is a good choice for a Bible for teen girls. 
FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through the publisher and/or the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

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