Crystaline Joi Prothro of Fayetteville challenges just about every tenet of current thinking about young people.

She is a 13-year-old African-American student at Flat Rock Middle School in Tyrone, whose purpose in life is witnessing for the Lord. "Chrissy," as she is called by friends and family, has done a masterful job of that by writing her own book.

A middle school student? A published author? Doesn't current thinking tell us that most middle school students are concerned only with what to wear, how to have fun, what music is "in," how to scam parents to keep them unaware?

And doesn't another, crueler kind of current thinking try to portray young black girls as headed for low-paying jobs, motherhood at an early age, or a series of marriages in an effort to keep afloat financially?

Chrissy challenges all of that thinking. Her book is called "I'm a Kid But I'm Not Kidding ... I LOVE THE LORD." In it, she encourages her peers to seek the Lord Jesus through confession, repentance and faith, to enjoy regeneration with God, and to continue in Scripture reading. She doesn't leave it in confusing "theological" language, but breaks down each concept so that people her age, younger, or anyone, can understand.

Chrissy says the hardest part of writing a book was "working every day." Even on trips away from home, she took her manuscript with her for editing, additions, corrections, and outlines of "what next." The second hardest part, she says, was "working with Daddy."

Her father James Prothro interrupts to say, "I know that's right. I am a driller, driller, driller."

The pastor of the Free Gospel Interdenominational Church in southwest Atlanta, he has two published books, one in the printing process and another being edited. He was delighted with his daughter's wish to write a book, but admits he "drilled" her about the Bible, God's grace, and a lifelong spiritual commitment.

Pastor Prothro also says he "learned more about my daughter from that book than I ever knew before." The communication gulf between parents and teens, Chrissy says, is one reason why she wanted to write the book. One of the cover quotes admonishes parents not to believe that they know their children, based solely on "the knowledge of what you used to do when you were kids... you need to know what's going on now."

She adds that listening, respecting one another's opinions, not playing games and not taking advantage of your "position" either as parent to child or child to parent can help open doors in families who are centered in Jesus. Chrissy says in the book, "Peer pressure is much different than what it used to be. There are more things to get in trouble with now. There are more places to go now than then. I guess what I'm trying to get everybody to do is work together."

Her parents are very important to her, she says, so much so that she dedicates the book to James and her mother Donna, a nurse at DeKalb Medical Center.

She speaks freely in the book, to her friends and fellow teens as well as to parents. Chrissy says the devil is out to destroy young people.

"In James 4:7," she writes, "the Bibles says that if I resist the devil, the devil will tuck his tail and run from me. I like that! I may be a kid but I'm not kidding. I really like that! I believe that the one thing the devil wants to steal from us is our minds and the desire to do hard work. We've got to work hard if we want to make it because the devil wants us to grow up and have nothing in life and be a 'nobody.' He wants us to live on the streets and be drug addicts and alcoholics."

Chrissy tells her friends that "youth is not a yoke," that young people need not be held back by their age, and can accomplish what they want. She reminds parents that young people have nerves that can be "got on" as well.

The interview with Chrissy took place in the Prothro home, a large and lively household located in an upscale north Fayette subdivision. The young girl consistently talked about the importance of her parents, her older sister Precious, and her younger brother Sir James Spe'Cial'. The six-month-old boy was adopted recently by James and Donna, who had always wanted a son. Donna says he represents the fulfillment of her dream that she would be able to "give a child a chance in life, since I've seen so many who don't have a loving home and good parents."

Much of the family's time is spent with the Free Gospel congregation, and their home has been open to seekers of the Word and others in need. Chrissy says she has always been active in the church, working with youth programs and singing in the choir.

No matter where she goes, Chrissy says, she sees how "attitudes" can harm young people. Another passage in her book reads, "Sometimes our attitudes make us feel that we want to run away from home, do drugs, have sex and then have babies to get back at our parents. We have no idea what we're doing when we have attitudes so we had better watch ourselves during this time. My daddy says, "anger blurs discretion," I'm not sure what he really means by that. I think he means you cannot make good decisions when you are mad." James says she "got it."

Chrissy's book can be purchased for $10 including tax through Robot Publishing, 770-460-7092, or at 3 Brothers Bookstore at Shannon Mall. She has had three book-signings, and has made appearances to speak to young people. In the book she describes the shyness and fears of public speaking. By the end of her first program, however, her constant dependence upon the Lord empowered her to say a prayer that summarizes Chrissy's message:

"God, we are here. Children, young people, and kids, and we do not know what we are doing. We thank you that we exist, but I must say again we do not know what we are doing. We have not always been led right. Some examples that we are given to follow are not always proper and so we are left alone in many cases. We are misunderstood. We are neglected and overlooked.