readers, it is difficult to find acceptable
reading material. Concerned parents
want to know that their children are
reading good, quality content, yet with
all that they have to take care of, it can
be a struggle to pre-read! Through
novels and biographies written from a
conservative Christian worldview, BJU
Press’s JourneyForth books offer literature parents can trust. These books are
not designed to be part of the core
curriculum but are designed to provide
concerned parents with reading material
they can confidently hand a teen who
desires something to read during leisure
time or for further study. Many teens
enjoy reading the historical fiction
novels JourneyForth offers as they study
those time periods. Titles such as
Careful Enough?, A Sparrow Alone, or
Out of Darkness provide interesting
looks at both contemporary and historical teens who were thrust into unexpected situations. For teens who love a
good mystery, JourneyForth offers The
Fingerprint Classics series, among
other titles.
Nancy Lohr, acquisitions editor for
JourneyForth books, says, “Many people
have the mindset that reading fiction is a
waste of time. Yet Jesus himself gave us
the Biblical model of using stories to
illustrate some aspect of character or the
impact of our actions in life. I love that
we can put into story the things we
would like teens to learn in real life.”
Nancy says that JourneyForth will
produce sixteen new titles this year and
is hoping to increase that number each
year. They also are investigating other
formats that would appeal to teens, such
as books that can be accessed with Mp3
players or electronic readers such as the
Amazon Kindle TM. “We will do whatever
we can to reach teens and stay true to our
message at the same time,” she says.
It is obvious that whether through textbooks or trade books, BJU Press is dedicated to reaching their homeschool
customers and providing whatever products and services are necessary to make
homeschooling teens a peaceful and
pleasant process.
