Through out the years, many books have become my dear friends.
Three book series in particular have come to me, held my hand, and helped me through an era of my life. They walked with me, encouraged me, taught me truths about life and God. The books made me laugh out loud and thus brightened up my day. Sometimes, they would even make me cry. Even through it all, I loved them very much.
So, I would like to take the time to make a shout out to these very special series.

3 influential book series for Christian girls

1. The Cul-de-sac Kids Series (Ages 7-10)

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Photo credit: amazon.com
To be completely honest, I hated reading until this series sought me out. The Cul-de-sac Kids, by Beverly Lewis, portrays the lives of a group of friends who all live on the same cul-de-sac. They experience countless adventures in the 24 books, and grow in their relationships with each other and with God.

Lewis wrote the books for children ages 7-10, and I have to say that I read and reread all of the books when I was in that age frame. I constantly checked them out from my church library. The librarians chuckled as I enthusiastically signed my name on the library check-out cards and then counted the number of times my name was listed on the cards.

2. The Lily Series (Ages 8-12)

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PC: nancyrue.com
When I was eleven or so, this series convinced my mom to show them to me. And so she did.

The Lily books, by Nancy Rue, are about the lives of 6th grade Lily and her friends. The awesome thing is, each book has a nonfiction twin which covers a topic mentioned in it’s fiction counterpart. For instance, in the first book, Here’s Lily, Lily decides she wants to be a model. Then, in the nonfiction companion book, Rue discuses beauty and self image (or, “God image”).

These books highly influenced my tween years. I read and reread every single one of the 14 fiction books, and owned the majority of the nonfiction books. These books taught me about the spiritual disciplines, spiritual gifts, how to make good friends, what some obscure Christian holy days are, and how to be creative.

These books are amazing, and I truly believe I would be a different person today if I had not read them back then.

3. The Christy Miller Series (Ages 14+)

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PC: amazon.com

This is still one of my favorite series to read. I started reading The Christy Miller Series, by Robin Jones Gunn, the summer after I turned 14.The first 12 books tell the story of Christy Miller’s life in high school. Then, Christy goes off to college, and her adventures there are relayed in three additional books. Currently, Gunn is writing a series about Christy’s life right after she got married (to whom I shan’t say, in case you haven’t read it yet *grins*). There are also series that are told by a few of Christy’s friends (The Sierra Jensen Series and The Katie Weldon Series; also check out The Glenbrook Series).

What I love about all of the Christy books is that the characters are so real. Each time I reread one of the books, I feel like I’m catching up with old friends. Sometimes, I even find myself telling stories about them, as if they were real, in conversations (“Oh yeah, one time my friend bought microwave popcorn at a garage sale and nearly caught our other friend’s apartment on fire…”), and it takes me a minute to remember that these people are actually fictional.

Through these books, I have learned about how to deal with friends, I’ve learned new things about God, and I’ve learned somethings about dating. These books are AMAZING, and you should go read all of Gunn’s books RIGHT NOW :D

What are some books/series that have influenced who you are today?