Camryn Kelly with Jill and Erin Kelly
FaithWords, 160 pp., $10.99

You know how you are always hoping your kids’ BFFs will be good influences? Introduce your tween girl to 11-year-old Camryn Kelly. She’s the kind of sweet, confident and goofy friend with whom you want your pre-teen talking boobies and braces. In the interactive book series she’s writing with her mom and sister, Hot Chocolate with God, Cam kicks off the relationship with about a hundred pages of getting-to-know-yourself questions (“What is your favorite kind of milk?” “Have you ever been bullied?”) interspersed with her own anecdotes, prayers, fun facts, word searches and memory verses. It’s like an über uplifting slam book that encourages girls to know and value their quirky selves, talk to their mothers and pray with their friends in such a fun way they may actually do it. (Favorite example: Quick! Clean your room right now! Write down here what your parents say when they notice.) The companion Facebook page and website (HotChocolateWithGod.com) provide a safe Christian home in which to play, share answers and hang out with Cam’s family via video.

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