Disclosure: I received these books to review. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.  The post contains affiliate links.

Being a mom of a tween and the teacher of 6th grade girls, I can say one thing for certain.  I wouldn’t want to go back to those adolescent days for anything!  I was a very moody teenager; I remember crying during class on more than one occasion.  It was probably for attention, maybe due to hormones, or perhaps brought on by some kind of teenage heartache.  Oh, what a toxic mixture for a mother-daughter relationship that could be!  My mom and I weren’t close at all during those years and, looking back, I can’t say that I blame her.  It was probably much safer to stay far, far away from me!   If you’re in that boat, check out these books that might help your daughter to enjoy those years — and you to enjoy her!  

The first book I read was the guide to teaching essential virtues.  Raising A Princess has just enough how-to statements in it to make it a guide book.  It’s also a bit of a memoir and record of informal case studies, as author John Croyle shares his experiences with raising girls.  Croyle has more than his fair share of raising them; he and his wife run a home for abused and neglected children!  At first I felt that the book was very choppy.  The headings cut pages into paragraph sections which made it difficult to stay on a topic.  Then I decided to take a different view.  Instead, I used the book as a devotional.  There is just enough time in the day to fit in a small section of the book and make it my focus for how I’ll love my daughter that day.  Many of the tips are practical (of the Wax-on, Wax-off, Danielsan mentality) and some of them are along the spiritual guidance road.  Someone in my family has 3 daughters but isn’t really guiding them in the way that they need.  I wish she would read this book — I think it would offer a lot of encouragement and support for both her spirit and that of her daughters.

The Princess Within is a hard sell because my daughter doesn’t particularly feel that she needs a guide book.  She definitely doesn’t really care about reading a book that is a princessy-type guide book.  Due to the mature content (mentions of murder, sex, drugs) it wasn’t appropriate for her innocent-10 year old self anyway.  On the other hand, I felt a little out of touch reading it because I just wasn’t into the frilly details like listening to music to go with the chapters.  It wasn’t a bad idea; it just wasn’t something I’d do.  The author gives a lot of her own personal story in this book which distracted me quite a bit.   However, I definitely see merit in this book’s teen-friendly format.  It would be an excellent way to jazz up a college-age Bible study.  I really, really liked the invitation at the end of the book.  It seemed like a very natural way to end a book that inspired such conviction in the author.

Okay, you’re going to think I’m so cheesy, but remember those cool quizzes that we used to do as kids? You know, the Seventeen magazine quizzes that let you imagine different scenarios with boys, friends, makeup, or whatever? Well, here’s the tamed down Christian version. The Big Book Of Quizzes is perfect to let your daughter and her friends connect with good, clean fun! At the end of each quiz there’s a point scale breakdown so your girl can figure out where she sits on the spectrum. The pages are full-color and attractive. With fun fonts, cute graphics, and of-the-time topics, this will be the hit of the sleepover for a tween party. I like the “Would You Rather” section for a quick conversation starter. Even though this book comes to us from the editors of Faithgirlz! it’s not dripping with evangelism. There’s a spirituality section tucked safely at the end of the book; it’s just enough to make this book cool for the Christian tween. Definitely a winner for girls who like to find their niche!  This book needs to be on your Christmas shopping list.  This might keep them busy on Christmas day long after the iPads run out of charge!

My cousin and I used to exchange letters in between holidays (we only saw each other at Christmas and maybe one week in the summer). I also had penpals for many years. It was fun to receive mail and I still look forward to finding a hand-written card in my mailbox. When my kids receive a gift, I am that mom who encourages (MAKES) them write a thank-you note. Now that we’ve offered your girls lots of encouragement, it’s time for them to give some away. After all, who doesn’t love a cute card with some stickers??? Share A Blessing is a cute book with 24 cards and 1,000 stickers just waiting to make someone smile. These are so convenient for sending a Thinking of You note to a friend. Even though they look like a child’s book, they are really perfect for anyone who wants a fun correspondence set. The cards are very high-quality and easily pull out of the book. I was impressed with the number and variety of stickers included in this book, too.