Book Review: The Princess Within for Teens: discovering your royal inheritance – by Serita Ann Jakes

The Princess Within - for teensBook: The Princess Within – for Teens: Discovering Your Royal Inheritance
Author: Serita Ann Jakes
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Date: July 1, 2014
Genre: young adult (teen girls), christian help
Pages: 183
Price: $10.79 paperback
My Rating: not a completely satisfying read, but helpful in ways

 

I received the ARC of this book from Library Thing in exchange for my honest review.

Usually books of this size I can eat up in no time; not so with this one. It took me far too long to read the whole book, and not because I am far beyond my teen years. I enjoy YA and MG and Picture books; my own writing centers around those genres, so that wasn’t the problem.

Serita Ann Jakes created a modern day Cinderella and used that as a jump off point for each chapter. That in itself was okay, but sometimes there was not much connection to the idea throughout the rest of the chapter.

The book begins with glowing letters of praise about the author from her two daughters. From there she sets up a hopeful scenario for the reader, beginning with a quiz of self-discovery and giving results to help the reader see herself as one of Disney’s princesses. Unfortunately, she didn’t follow through the same way with all the quizzes she created. In the same vein, she included short testimonies but it was puzzling to see where they were placed when a few didn’t have anything to do with the chapter they accompany.

Here are the chapter titles:

  1. Princess, why are you hiding?
  2. But everyone is invited!
  3. Parents just don’t understand?
  4. The power to choose
  5. Is that any way for a princess to act?
  6. We are family
  7. A word of truth
  8. Wash off those cinders!
  9. Dress the part
  10. Face those fears
  11. You fit right in
  12. In the powder room
  13. Where the boys are
  14. Where did the time go?
  15. Kick off your shoes
  16. Sweet dreams really do come true
  17. A prince is waiting for you

Reading those titles makes one think this is going to be such a great read! It is and it isn’t. Although the message is there it didn’t carry through smoothly with the idea presented at the beginning, as if the writing of this book was a little rushed. It felt as if the connection with God is interrupted time and again.

Although there are as a few other statements made that were amiss, there is one suggestion I was appalled to read, where the author presented a scenario about God and asked the teen reader to give her opinion. First of all it is a moot point which cannot possibly have an answer. It’s as if the author didn’t understand the holiness of God in even suggesting such a scenario could exist. It had no place in this book at all and didn’t add to it in any positive way to affirm the reader.

After reading The Princess Within for Teens, perhaps a young reader will come away with hope of her place in God and will not even notice the gaps in the presentation. Serita Jakes’ intent is to encourage her, to help her stand in the midst of the stresses and problems that each day may bring to her. If this is what the young reader is looking for, although it could use a little work, she will probably find The Princess Within for Teens to be a good beginning. The drawback is the subtitle of this book is Discovering Your Royal Inheritance and there was not much connection and teaching or encouragement in that aspect.

Serita Ann Jakes‘ The Princess Within for Teens follows her adult edition of The Princess Within.

You can find The Princess Within for Teens on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

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