Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of June 19, 2009!
Congratulations to Gregory Schofield!

Gregory Schofield will receive a copy of the What I Wish I Had Known About Becoming a Teenager: Wisdom and Advice from Teens in High School, a $12.95 value.

Whether your teens are excited or apprehensive about the teen years, there is something in What I Wish I Had Known About Becoming a Teenager for them. High schoolers from across the country tell stories about their experiences, share insights about what they have learned, and offer great advice for young teens and preteens. They share what they wish they had known about becoming teenagers and touch on lots of topics relevant to teenage life.

Look Inside: You can find an online sampler of What I Wish I Had Known About Becoming a Teenager on the SMP Web catalog. Search for "What I Wish," or use this link to go to the product description, http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=3455. Then use the "look inside" button next to the cover image to see the table of contents, the preface, and the beginning of the first chapter, "Being a Teen."

What I Wish I Had Known About Becoming a Teenager:
Wisdom and Advice from Teens in High School
ISBN 978-0-88489-662-3, paper, 110 pages, $12.95 http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=3455

Summer Reading Lists
by Roxane Kadrlik Chlachula

Finally . . . summer vacation has begun! During the summer months many teens look forward to getting together with friends, participating in recreational activities, and doing things they often don't have time for during the school year. But summer is also a great time for teens to read a few good books. Saint Mary's Press provides summer reading lists for middle-school and high school teens. A couple of my favorites are the 9th Grade Survival Guide and What I Wish I Had Known About Becoming a Teenager.

The 9th Grade Survival Guide is a humorous and informative book that offers tips on how to navigate through high school with style and grace. What I Wish I had Known About Becoming a Teenager was written by high schoolers from across the country. The teens tell stories about their experiences, share insights about what they have learned, and offer great advice for young teens and preteens. For more suggestions, click on the links below to find the perfect book for your teen.

Click on this link http://www.smp.org/mssummer.cfm for Saint Mary's Press summer reading list for middle school youth.

Click on this link http://www.smp.org/hssummer.cfm for Saint Mary's Press summer reading list for high school youth.

An Independence Day Prayer
by Ginny Halbur

Independence Day is a good time to reflect on the freedoms that we take for granted each day. The following prayer was written for young people to help them reflect on their own experience of freedom and longing for independence:

Gracious God,
You have given us each the gift of freedom--freedom to choose between good and evil, between life and death. Freedom to accept or reject the loving relationship you offer to us.

As a young person, I long to be free to make my own decisions, choose my own friends, decide which career path I will follow, select the schools I will attend, and risk making my own mistakes.

I also long to be free from the stress and anxiety of an overwhelming schedule, peer pressure and criticism from others, parental expectations, and a heavy academic workload.

Even though I long for more and more independence in my life, I also recognize that I need caring adults who are concerned for my welfare and who will set limits to my freedom for my own well-being.

Give me the grace, O God, to use the freedoms that I have been given wisely and provide caring mentors to guide me so that some day I will experience the freedom of Eternal Life with you. Amen.

Gift Pick of the Week

Each week from now through June 26, we are picking a special item from the Saint Mary's Press Gift Boutique and offering a special discount on that item. There will be a new Gift Pick each week on Friday, so check the Weekly E-news each Friday!

This Week's Gift Pick

Three Nail Rustic Cross
originally $34.95, now $26.95!
This offer ends Thursday, June 25, 2009. While supplies last!

A meaningful Confirmation, graduation, or birthday gift, this 2" polished sterling silver slider comes on cocoa-red 7 1/2"L leather cord. Lobster-claw clasp with 1/4" adjuster chain.