Ummmmm...Help?
Let's pretend for a second that you are a theology teacher. You have to assign summer reading for the freshmen, who are becoming sophomores. They just finished learning Hebrew Scriptures and they are going to take Christology (Gospels and Letters of Paul) and Church History. They are also switching Catholic attitudes, from an admittedly liberal teacher (me) to a self-proclaimed Orthodox teacher. Most of them are 15 years old.
The book they had used previously was She Said Yes, which was fairly short and easy to read, and made a big impact on a lot of the kids, though mostly the girls. We're not using it anymore because it is not widely available anymore.
Here are some books I've considered (some with Liz's and Mom's help) and why I am not sure they will work:
The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day (True to its title, it's pretty long.)
Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind by Maura Soshin O'Halloran (She's a Buddhist, not Christian, really.)
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Too easy.)
Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus (Also too easy. But I still think everyone should read this.)
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis (I'm kind of trying to stay away from C.S. Lewis because The Screwtape Letters is required for the seniors.)
The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton (too Confucist, although Merton was certainly Christian.
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (More about the spirit in general than Christianity. But also one of my favorite books.)
So. I'm having trouble. What good, short books on Christianity are out there? Fiction or non-fiction.
The book they had used previously was She Said Yes, which was fairly short and easy to read, and made a big impact on a lot of the kids, though mostly the girls. We're not using it anymore because it is not widely available anymore.
Here are some books I've considered (some with Liz's and Mom's help) and why I am not sure they will work:
The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day (True to its title, it's pretty long.)
Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind by Maura Soshin O'Halloran (She's a Buddhist, not Christian, really.)
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Too easy.)
Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus (Also too easy. But I still think everyone should read this.)
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis (I'm kind of trying to stay away from C.S. Lewis because The Screwtape Letters is required for the seniors.)
The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton (too Confucist, although Merton was certainly Christian.
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (More about the spirit in general than Christianity. But also one of my favorite books.)
So. I'm having trouble. What good, short books on Christianity are out there? Fiction or non-fiction.