Three Books for Fostering Faith in the Teen Years

Katie Fitzgerald highlights three new resources from LifeTeen to share with your teens in high school or college.

This fall, I will enter a new era of parenting as my oldest daughter turns thirteen. Having worked with teens as a young adult librarian in the past, naturally my instinct is to turn to books to help us navigate these new, uncharted waters. LifeTeen has three new titles for the Catholic teen audience that will be very helpful to me now and in the future as my other three daughters and one son also mature toward adulthood.

Unintimidating Bible Studies

A Quick Word by Mark Hart is subtitled “20 Minute Bible Studies for Busy Catholics,” and that is exactly what you’ll find inside this slim volume. In each of the twenty studies in this book, the reader is invited to explore one aspect of Jesus. Jesus calls us and gives us various reminders. He teaches us, shows us His mercy, and gives His Mother to us. In each two-page study, there is a Bible verse to look up and read, a series of questions to prayerfully consider, a short reflection to guide the reader’s understanding of the Bible passage, and a concluding prayer.

Not only are these short reflections ideal for busy Catholics, they are also ideal for young Catholics who are just learning to lead their own prayer lives. The straightforward format and simple layout of the pages make prayer feel accessible and doable for teens who might be used to parents or other adults taking charge. The conversational tone of the reflections (and the occasional use of slang, such as when Jesus is called the “GOAT”) provide further comfort and familiarity for young people who might be intimidated by studying scripture. Another great bonus is the collection of Catholic prayers at the back of the book, which includes the Mysteries and prayers of the Rosary.

Advice for Middle Schoolers

Letters to My Little Sister by Trinity Moriah is a volume that will be especially useful to me this year, as it is described as “A Catholic Girl’s Guide to Thrive in Middle School.” My kids are homeschooled, but no 13-year-old is exempt from the growing pains of early adolescence, which this book understands thoroughly. Written by a college student, these letters reflect on friends, family, dating, social media, maturity, insecurity, worry, and purpose, addressing common concerns that can make middle school challenging. The gentle, friendly tone, and the fact that the author is only recently out of middle school herself give this book an authentic feel that is neither cheesy nor preachy.

I especially love the way this book makes reference to relevant Bible passages that relate to various problems middle schoolers might need to navigate. My daughters are in a homeschool girls’ group that prays and discusses various topics together, and this book would be an ideal resource for a youth group of this type. It’s also nice to be able to hand my girls a book like this and allow them to reference it independently when they have questions or concerns. It’s “embarrassing” to hear this stuff from Mom, but much more comfortable to sneak a peek in a book in private.

Learning to be a Godly Man

Finally, Next Level: A Guide to Life for Young Catholic Men by Mark Hart is a book I’m going to need to save for a few years. My only son is only six right now, but this book explores topics that I know we will be dealing with before too long. It covers pretty much everything Letters to My Little Sister talks about, but with the teen male audience in mind. The topics included are: friends, girls, media, future, boy vs. man, and self-mastery.

Like A Quick Word, it has a conversational tone with occasional slang usage that feels contemporary and not overdone. Each chapter includes two-page spreads on a variety of topics, with a reflection, a challenge, and a prayer. The challenges all come with two levels. The “first level” is a bit easier, and the “next level” asks for a bit more from the reader in terms of spiritual practice. With its red cover and bold capital letters, this book has a masculine look that will appeal to young men, and the content covers emotional and complicated topics without talking down to the reader or resorting to artificially flowery language.

If you have teens in your life, these three volumes from LifeTeen will make excellent resources for you. Parents, Catholic school teachers, Confirmation sponsors, catechists, youth group coordinators and anyone else who has regular interactions with teen Catholics will want to snatch up these excellent titles!

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Copyright 2026 Katie Fitzgerald
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