The Young Man's Guide to Awesomeness

Young Man's Guide to Awesomeness

The Young Man's Guide to Awesomeness: How to Guard Your Heart, Get the Girl and Save the World is a book I've been looking for for years.  Barrett Johnson has written a guide for Christian teen boys outlining, in a direct and serious tone leavened with a healthy dose of humor, the challenges they face in their relationships and attempts to succeed in life and how to overcome those challenges.

The three major sections of the book cover How to Guard Your Heart, How to Get the Girl, and How to Save the World.  Within each section, chapters outline different areas of focus.  In each chapter, the topic is explored within several subsections.  A pithy Big Idea gives a piece of advice.  A body part is highlighted along with an explanation of how that body part affects this topic.  Typical responses or situations are described.  Advice is given for how to respond differently than the norm.  A related lesson from the life of the biblical king David provides an example.  The Take Action subsection gives a short list of concrete steps to take.  Talk About It has discussion questions, and there's a QR code that links to a video.

Johnson's advice and admonitions here are direct and earnest but not overly explicit.  Sex is discussed quite a bit, but in an appropriately tactful way.  The humor in the book will appeal to older pre-teen and teen boys but isn't crass.