The Truth about TRUE Vol. I
TEEN REVIEWS

"I'm a pretty typical teenager. I spend every Friday night at the movies and every waking hour trying to fit in. And like other 17 year olds, I'm filled with the same questions about God.

Who is he? What does he want from me? Where can I find him? On picking up TRUE VOL. 1, I didn't expect these questions to be answered so thoroughly and comprehensively. Every story seemed to connect with a different aspect of my life, and every question each author answered was lurking in the back of my mind.

The stories are compiled in a way that not only keeps the reader interested, but supports the thematic structure of the book. Each section is filled with stories that address a different aspect of God's face; his love, his compassion, his forgiveness. I often find religiously-themed books forced, but TRUE used the art of short narratives to positively and effectively portray ideas that are crucial to young struggling Christians.

Whether you're fighting anorexia or a family death, TRUE holds something for you. I still find myself struggling to realize who God actually is, but this book definitely gave me a glimpse of who I'm looking for."

Shane Kennedy, Fullerton, CA USA



"This book brought some new things to my attention. After being away from home for six months experiencing God, and then returning home, it pumped me up to the sharing the reality of God all over the world. Over those past six months, I TRUELY saw God's powerful hand, and how real He is, coming home I was a bit worried and disturbed that I wouldn't see God as clearly as I did in Asia.

I picked up this book right away and it was and still is the first book and only book I've read since my return. Let me tell you, I'm not much of a reader, but I couldn't put this book down! It was full of the REALNESS of God and the way He works in the lives of people in our everyday lives, people who we might not know we're impacting or effecting, but God many times uses us to be His vessels, to pour God's love and His Wisdom and Power onto those who are hurting or in a difficult time or situation, that God is there and many times He brings people are way to help with the process.

I think ANYONE, young or old, should read this book. Why? Because it's TRUE!, It's REAL! It's Inspiring! It's a book I would and am recommending all my peers, friends and family to READ! I'm not a very emotional person, but this book brought me to tears as I read the TRUE STORIES and how God's REALNESS is all over the place, and we can all SEE the TRUE, the Living and the REAL God, who wants to be made known, and this book does a superb job of accomplishing that.

This book taught me more about the Character of God, and how He uses the little things and the big things to make Himself known."

"if we don't praise His name even the rocks will cry out"
God wants to be known and wants us all to know Him in a REAL way. So GO AND PICK UP THIS BOOK. IT COULD JUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE, YOUR THINKING AND THE WAY YOU SEE GOD!

Rebecca, 19


"If you have a question concerning God or problems in your life, TRUE has a story similar, if not exact to what you're going through. As a 16-year-old many stories where relevant to me, the stories that where the most convicting where trusting in God, and being an example for Christ everywhere.

TRUE covers almost all of the issues in teens life ranging from drugs and pornography, to eating disorders and fitting in. You name it most likely the book has it. Another benefit is that these teens come from a variety of backgrounds so the book doesn't just cater to an individual race, home life or income. The book gives excellent examples of the struggles, perseverance, and ultimately the trusting in God to handle your problems.

Although you may or may not agree with some of the teen writer's spiritual approach to handling their situations, God still shows up and uses the situation to glorify Himself. To sum it all up, buy (...) the book and see for yourself.

Arik, 16



I would love to read TRUE VOL. II because I am in love with VOLUME I. I JUST finished it literally minutes ago, keeping in mind that I just received the book yesterday. These stories brought me closer to my God, opened my eyes, filled me with love for my Creator, and made it just a bit easier to testify through these people. I'm in love with it, and so are many, many of my friends, even the ones who are a little sketchy about our Lord Jesus. Your book has been such a ministry tool for me, and I'd love to have more stories.

I can't say enough how much it opened my eyes to things I'm not doing enough as a Christian, and the little things I can be thankful for. Having been a devoted Christian of 2 years, I think of what it can do for a person who's never accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Instead of opening their eyes to the little things that I missed, maybe they'll open their eyes to the huge thing: Salvation. I won't sit here and explain how incredible God's love is because for those who haven't experienced it no explanation will ever be enough and for those who have experienced it no explanation will ever be necessary. In His Grip...

Erin Wise, 15


I read T-Bone's (as well as some others) testimony. If the rest of the book is like those testimonies, then I think that this book is very uplifting when you're down and very encouraging when you're not. That doesn't come as a surprise, because hearing OF God's works always drives us to DO the works God wishes for us.

Dave Hockstad, 14



Honestly, I am not really into these kind of books. I'd much rather read a mystery, love story, or the Bible; but for a book with all these compiled stories, it was pretty good. There were some stories that I wanted to just hug the person and cry with them, others, I laughed when they were laughing. God did some amazing things in these peoples live and I think it is great that they are willing to share their struggles and triumphs with others.

I really like how at the end they printed the biographies of the people who had written the stories and given a little more information on how they are doing now. That makes me feel like I know the writers a little bit better and can relate to what they were talking about. I also loved the verses at the beginning of the stories! I think it is cool that these stories are not only from music artists or actors, but from kids my own age, some even younger. That puts it into perspective because you can't just say to yourself "well, it will never happen to me, I am too young."

I think that too often we forget how blessed and fortunate we are and it is a great check to read stories by teens who had amazing strength and faith to go through some of the things that most adults could not even handle.

Allison Rust



As teenagers, especially teenagers raised in the church, we are inundated with head-knowledge about God's protection, faithfulness, mercy, love, compassion, wisdom, patience, and power. But how easy is it for us to just simply believe in those things and trust them simply because we hear about them all the time? We know these things in our heads, but we have little reason to trust them in our hearts. Irene Dunlap has done an outstanding job of conveying these truths in the stories found in TRUE. The stories tug at your heart strings and force you to see that God is all of these things and so much more.

Some stories involve death, some involve life, and some involve huge tragedies, but all of them include the same message - that God is here, he is faithful, and he will always do what he has promised to do. This book took me back to those teenage years of floundering and doubting, and confirmed for me once again that the God that I serve is true.

Shay Yeske


When I first got asked to read this book I really didn't want to because I don't get into books that much so I either end up not finishing or being unhappy through the rest of the book. After reading this book I can honestly say it's the best book I've ever read. It's amazing to hear stories about how God showed up in teens lives when they're just ready to give up. I don't see how any person after reading this book could say God isn't real. How can a hole in someone's heart just disappear? Or how can a teen's life change over night? God performs miracles in people's lives everyday and it's awesome to see these teens give all the glory to God. This book has inspired me in many ways and has given me more hope to keep going when the hard times seem impossible.

TRUE as a whole was an absolutely wonderful book. I found myself at certain times not wanting to put it down. Chapter 7, He is a God of Love, didn't really hold my attention like the other chapters did. Although it didn't take away from the book, I could see how you could lose your readers attention. Y'all did a wonderful job putting this book together and I can't wait till Volume II comes out.

Christin Bell

 

The Truth about TRUE Vol. I
YOUTH WORKER REVIEWS


She's done it again! Through the compilation of teens' stories, Irene Dunlap has made TRUE Vol.1 a must-have book for today's teens. From the moment I began reading this book, I was hooked. I had to continue to read every page.

The more I read, the more I thought back on my teen years. I remembered thinking that no one could possibly know what I was going through. Now, thirty-something, I know that we all face a myriad of adversities and obstacles. I was amazed at how these testimonies impacted my life right now. I found myself at the edge of my emotions and nearly crying at one story to being moved to laughter in another.

I believe that this book and the volumes that follow are an absolute necessity for every young believer, second only to the Bible for spiritual growth. These testimonies show that not only are there other people out there that are facing and have faced the things that we're going through but they teach us that God's grace is for everyone, that his love reaches everyone and he is faithful to perform his word in everyone who believes. I can't think of a better inspirational book that I could recommend to my youth group than TRUE Vol. 1.

Thank you, Irene, for finding people who were willing to share their personal moments to strengthen and encourage us in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Reverend Mark S. Bowman


TRUE is a collection of stories crafted for our time. Narrative is the communication vehicle of choice for this generation; they relish hearing other's stories, then in turn, sharing theirs. These personal accounts arranged around seven thematic attributes of God are depositories of eternal Truth, Real, Relevant and Universal. The poignancy and the personal ethos of the 52 stories is a vivid reminder that God never wastes tears or overlooks an opportunity to redeem pain.

This book is ideally suited as a read alone daily devotional with Scriptural texts beginning every chapter or as a daily prompt for personal journaling reflecting on how the principles or particulars of the story interconnect with the writers own story. I also used the volume as a read aloud resource acting as a catalyst to teach on related issues or as a spring board to small group discussion. The chapters can be read easily in 2-3 minutes. The stories themselves are well told and evidence strong editing skills which emphasize movement and plot while not ignoring insights into individual personality. Listed at $12.95 the book is a value to the budget initially and a treasure for the heart indefinitely. I am recommending it as "a must read summer book" for the students studying youth ministry at Colorado Christian University.

Dr. Kevin Turner
Colorado Christian University
Lakewood, CO

TRUE VOL. 1 is a collection of people's lives and their place in the story of God. I really like how as a reader, you're drawn in to a portion of their lives. The book is full of emotion; sometimes I found myself wanting to cry with the storyteller and sometimes wanting to cry.

As a youth pastor, I intend to keep a supply of these books on hand for my students, especially when they feel like life is squeezing them or when they feel like God is too far away from them. Through the stories of real people and their real situations, I find healing, and comfort.

TRUE is a great collection of inspirational stories, and needs to be on every teenager's bookshelf.

Kent D. Britton

When reading through TRUE, I was filled with many mixed thoughts, feelings, and emotions. I felt sadness, compassion, hurt, anger, and many other sad and upsetting emotions. These, however, were immediately changed into feelings of joy, happiness, completeness, and hope after finishing each story. Many people today doubt that God is still in the miracle business; they simply write off strange happenings in their lives as a random coincidence. These stories affirm that God is indeed still doing miracles and people would notice them if they simply took the time to look at the sheer number of "miraculous signs" that happen everyday. Overall, I felt the book was an encouraging, spiritually filling compilation of "proofs" that God is active in our world today.

The stories themselves were absolutely amazing, for the most part. I was floored by the vast majority of truths found in and throughout these stories. Not only were most of them theologically accurate, they were coming from common people like you and me. It was a great mix of artists, musicians, students, etc. They also illustrated a vast majority of situations, topics, struggles, sin, etc. No two stories were alike; very well done.
Anyone can pick up this book and relate to it in some way, shape, or form, and probably do so in more ways than one.

Overall, I must say that TRUE was a powerful book. It was refreshing to me (a man who is in pastoral ministry) that God is still in the miracle business. It illustrated a God that can and does work outside of a simple church context. He does things to prove his power, love, and every other category used in this book everyday. TRUE helped to grow my faith in a way that nothing else could. These stories should be read by any person (Christian or not), that doubts in God in any way.

Russel Dains

I have personally avoided all the Chicken Soup for the Soul books out there. I don't know if I thought them too feminine, not up my alley, or just another self-help crutch for our society. I just didn't want to read them.
I was asked to review TRUE, which was by one of the authors of the already mentioned Soup series. Let's just say, I had a pre-conceived bias that I would dislike the book. I was wrong.

TRUE is a random, yet purposeful collection of inspiring real-life stories that will strengthen the young Christian and challenge the seeker to think about this God. Christian celebrities and non-celebrities present the evidence for a powerful, loving God. They, the story-tellers, show there is a God out there, and He cares, and He wants to be personally involved in the reader's life.

Irene Dunlap did a great job of choosing narratives that piece together the big picture of God. She grouped the accounts into chapters that show God's attributes. Reading a chapter or even just a story is encouraging, but reading the whole book helps you walk away with a modern accounting of this wonderful active God.
I liked the book. I was encouraged, enlightened, and am now left with a strange feeling that I need to peruse some of the Soup series. The design of the book was fresh and modern and I readily handed it off to my students when I was finished with it.

Scott Riley
Pastor of Student Ministries
The Gathering Place
Folsom, CA