How to Help Your Teen Prepare for Life`s Tough Choices

Contact: Angie Brillhart
[email protected]
Available for Interview
How to Help Your Teen Prepare for Life’s Tough Choices
Youth Expert Nicole O’Dell Available to Discuss Today’s Teen Culture and Upcoming Novels
Youth culture expert and
author Nicole O’Dell will
share with your listeners:
About
her
Scenarios:
Interactive Fiction for Girls
series and how it can help
teens practice making good
choices
How to handle hot topics like
abortion,
gun
violence,
entertainment choices, dating,
purity, and more!
How to help your young teen
prepare for the turbulent teen
years
Surprising trends in today’s
teen culture
How the media negatively
influences
your
teen’s
decision making
Practical ways to deal with
your teen’s rebellion
The number one issue teen
girls face today
The
unique
relationship
between
mothers
and
daughters and why it matters
“It’s no surprise that today’s
teens face tough decisions,”
says youth culture expert and
author,
Nicole
O’Dell.
“They’re
bombarded
by
messages contrary to God’s
Word every day. We have to
teach and show them how to
stand up for what is right in
the face of adversity.”
As a teen, O’Dell faced her
own
struggles,
wrong
choices, and rebellion. A
church girl who wandered,
she lost her good reputation
and broke promises
she'd made as a young girl to
herself, her parents and to God.
Soon after, she spent a year living
in a Teen Challenge home, trying
to regain the footing she'd lost.
“Based on my own experience as
a teen as well as working with
teens as a youth leader, I firmly
believe that the best time to reach
teens is before they face the tough
decisions,” says O’Dell. “It's far
easier for teens to look at a
situation objectively and predetermine what they’ll do when
they’re faced with that choice, than
if they encounter it for the first time
while staring down their friends,
being forced to decide on the spot
about something they aren’t
prepared for.”
O’Dell
writes
the
popular
Scenarios for Girls series (Barbour
Publishing) directed at young teen
girls which encourages them to
make choices about key issues the
characters face. Releasing in April
2011, Swept Away is a 2-in-1
collection containing new books in
the series and deals with hot topics
like purity and cheating. The
Scenarios series was developed
based on a game she played with
her own children to help them
practice making good choices.
O’Dell believes that the parent
relationship
is
of
particular
importance in helping teens to
make better choices.
“You’ll often hear how it’s
important that parents and teens
keep the lines of communication
open during those years—and it
is,” says O’Dell. “But, in my
opinion, it's won or lost, solidified
or torn down, during the pre-teen
years. We have to reach them
early.”
About Nicole O’Dell
Nicole O’Dell is a youth culture expert,
who writes and speaks to pre-teens,
teenagers, and parents about how to
prepare for life’s tough choices. Over the
years, Nicole has worked as a youth
director, a Bible study leader for women
and teens, and a counselor at a crisis
pregnancy center and was a veteran
camp counselor for over a decade. She
and her husband, Wil, have six children,
including toddler triplets, and reside in
Illinois.
Releasing April 2011
Scenarios for Girls
Dare to Be Different, Risky Business,
and Swept Away
By Nicole O’Dell
Barbour Publishing
Paper, 352 pages, $9.99 each
9781616262501 (Dare to Be Different)
9781616262518 (Risky Business)
9781616262525 (Swept Away)
www.nicoleodell.com
www.choicesradio.com
author bio
Meet Nicole O’Dell
N
icole O’Dell is a youth culture expert, who writes and speaks to pre-teens, teens, and
parents about how to prepare for life’s tough choices. Her fiction and non-fiction is
focused on helping teens make good choices and bridging the gap in parent/teen
communication. Nicole is also the host of Teen Talk Radio at www.choicesradio.com, where she
talks with teens and special guests about the real issues young people face today. She loves
getting out among teens and parents when speaking at youth groups and conferences,
including the 2010 Ascension Convention in Chicago, which drew 2500 teens. She has been
interviewed on numerous radio stations, blogs, and other venues such as the Christian
Television Network.
Over the years, Nicole has worked as a youth director, a Bible study leader for women and
teens, a counselor at a crisis pregnancy center, and was a veteran camp counselor for over a
decade. Her writing also includes devotionals and Bible studies for women of all ages.
Releasing in April 2011 are new books in her popular Scenarios for Girls series, which is
designed to help tween and teen girls learn the importance of making sound decisions. In each
book, the main character arrives at a moral dilemma where the reader gets to choose! There
are alternate endings based on the reader’s choice. Nicole has seen that this method gives the
reader the opportunity to experience the consequences of the “wrong” choice or the rewards of
the “right” one without the real-life cost. Each book also depicts forgiveness and restoration
following both decisions. The contract at the end of the book gives the reader a chance to
commit to her choice and encourages her to seek accountability. The prayer leads the reader to
a commitment to God in regard to that specific decision. Find out more about Nicole and her
books at www.nicoleodell.com.
Scenarios for Girls by Nicole O’Dell
Contact: Angie Brillhart [email protected]
author bio
10 Suggested Discussion Questions for Nicole O’Dell
1. Nicole, why are you so passionate about helping young teens make better choices?
2. You spent a year living in a Teen Challenge home because of a series of your own
wrong choices. How has your experience played into your ministry?
3. Oftentimes, things like drugs, alcohol, and sex come to mind when we think about
challenges teens face. What are other challenges that they face, which maybe aren’t
quite as obvious?
4. How can parents who might be listening do a better job of preparing their young teens
for these difficult choices?
5. One of the relationships you spend a lot of time discussing in your ministry is the one
between mothers and daughters. What makes this relationship so unique?
6. You cite a statistic that by the age of 18, teens have seen 100,000 commercials that
encourage them to drink alcohol. What kind of power does the media have over teens?
7. How important is the parent/child relationship during the teen years?
8. What are some practical ways parents can begin to talk with their young teens about
some of these issues?
9. Some parents who are listening might already see their teen rebelling. What
encouragement can you offer these parents?
10. You’ve written a book series for young teen girls that shows them how to make better
choices. How do you see these books making a difference?
Scenarios for Girls by Nicole O’Dell
Contact: Angie Brillhart [email protected]
program ideas
Looking for a program idea? Consider these…
§
Raising a Godly Teen in an Ungodly World
§
How the Media Negatively Influences Your Teen—and How to Fight Back
§
Preparing Your Child’s Heart and Mind for the Teen Years
§
Facing Peer Pressure: Effective Strategies for Saying “No” When Everyone Else
is Saying “Yes”
§
Trends Surrounding Today’s Top Teen Issues
§
“If I’d only known...:” Coming to Terms with Your Own Wrong Choices From the
Past
§
Mean Girls: How to Help Your Daughter Navigate Difficult Relationships
§
Summer Job? Moral Decisions Your Teen Might Face
§
Save or Suffer? How to Know When to let Your Teen Make the Wrong Choice
§
Today’s Fashionista: What Your Daughter’s Clothes Say About Her
§
Scenarios: Interactive Fiction for Girls…helping teens practice good choices.
§
Taming the Social Media Craze: How the Internet/Texting/Facebook Affects Your
Teen
Scenarios for Girls by Nicole O’Dell
Contact: Angie Brillhart [email protected]