Book Review - "Truth, Dare, Double Dare: Another Year of Dynamic Devotions for Girls" by Ann-Margret Hovsepian + #Win a $10 Family Christian Certificate

Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book by Family Christian in exchange for an honest and thorough review.  All views shared are mine and mine alone.

Publisher: David C Cook Publishing Company
Format: Paperback
431 pages
Publication date: 28 November 2014
Publication City/Country: Colorado Springs, CO
ISBN 10: 1434702111
ISBN 13: 9781434702111

I enlisted the help of my two nieces, who are 10 and 12 yrs. old to help me review the recent "Truth, Dare, Double Dare: Another Year of Dynamic Devotions for Girls" book by Ann-Margret Hovsepian.  I was looking for a gift to the give the girls at the holidays that they could enjoy while they stayed with us for the holiday.  I thought this devotions books, written especially for tween and teen girls would be perfect for them...and, I was right -- they loved it!  Usually for my 10 year old niece, it is hard to get her to stick with a book, but after she saw her sister read this book cover to cover in two days times, she was eager for her chance to get her hands on the book and see what it was all about.

So, what is this devotions book about?  Here is a brief synopsis:

""Truth, Dare, Double Dare" is a fast-paced, real-life daily devotional that helps girls ages 8 to 12 take the adventure of a lifetime with God. Each day of reading includes a few Bible verses, an exploration of what those verses mean, and ways tweens can dare to apply God's truth to their lives. With journaling prompts, fun quizzes, and relevant messages, this devotional will make a tween girls' faith come alive."

I read this book first before passing it off to my nieces and loved how the book itself was set up.  I especially liked how they were given a few Bible verses to read on each day and that these verses were explained in a way that they could understand them and apply them to their daily lives.  While some young child may still be struggling to learn the words of God or messages that they have been taught from reading the Bible or in Bible study class, this is a great book for young girls that will make growing up and going through puberty and lives challenges easier, with faith and God's truth on their side.

Like the synopsis describes above, this is a fast-paced book and one that girls can read on a daily basis in no-time.  While both of my nieces read this cover to cover, they both agreed when we sat at the table to talk about it, that they will take turns reading each day's devotion either in the AM, or right before bed and their evening prayers.  I ended up picking up another copy of this book, so that they would each have their own copy - that way, they could find a time that worked best for each of them to read through the Bible verses, explore them on their own and even journal if they wished, about what they learned, how God's truth can be applied to their lives and the messages that resonated with them.

Each day's devotion with challenges takes up all of one page.  Yes, you read that right.  A Bible verse is shared, followed up with a short story that explains this verse further.  Then, the reader is given a "Dare" challenge, which has them react to what they have read.  This "Dare" challenge is followed up with a "Double Dare" challenge, usually a couple questions or challenges that has the reader apply this and other Bible verses to the day's devotion.  Once the challenges or dares are completed, the readers is given a "Promise to Repeat" which is the same for each day.  They are asked the following questions... "How did it go? and "What did you learn."  These questions are great prompts for journaling or talking further with friends and family about God's Truth and what they are learning in this daily devotional book.

In addition to the weekday devotionals, there are also weekend challenge that is more in-depth than the basic 1 page devotion with a quick Dare and Double Dare challenge question.  The weekend devotional offers fun quizzes and puzzles of sorts, that has the reader applying what they learned over the course of the week in this weekend wrap up challenge.  I loved this feature of the book, as it makes the reader remember back about what Bible verses they learned over the course of a week, what their meanings were and how they could be applied to their personal and faith-based growth.  My two nieces also found the weekend challenges to be fun, and really make them think when it came to answering the quizzes and challenge questions.

Both myself and my two nieces highly recommend this book to young girls everywhere, looking for a great daily devotional book to learn the truth in God's words, and apply Bible verses to their lives.  This is truly a wonderful book to share with young girls, between the ages of 8-12 yrs. old.  And, with the start of the new year, what better way to get girls excited about reading, learning about God and his positive messages, etc. than by giving them this book, which will prompt journaling as well as conversations with their friends and even parents, about God's messages and the verses that they read and learn the meaning of.

--GIVEAWAY--

I am excited to give one lucky reader the chance to win a $10 Family Christian appreciation certificate that can be used in stores and online towards the purchase of this wonderful devotional book for girls, or anything else that catches your eye.  To enter this fun giveaway, please complete the entries on the Rafflecopter form below.  Good luck!

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Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book by Family Christian in exchange for an honest and thorough review.  All views shared are mine and mine alone.