Becky's Brainstorm by Elaine Shulte

Becky's Brainstorm, book one of the Twelve Candles Club series was written by Elaine Shulte. It was copyrighted in 1992 and published by Bethany House Publishers. It has 144 pages and is for readers 8-12. This Christian fiction book's main characters are girls, so girls may enjoy reading it more than boys.

Becky is worried they may have to move somewhere less expensive. She decides to start a money making club with her friends. Becky's mother gains courage from Becky and applies for a job with success. They are able to stay in Santa Rosita, California. On Becky's birthday she gets a wonderful idea to start a club that will do odd jobs and babysitting around the neighborhood. They have a lot of success cleaning Mrs. Llewellyn's house and helping her with a party. Becky and her friends have a morning group for kids and Becky sells pizza party invitations to Mr. Morelli and his pizza restaurant. Becky is on television, because she is chased by dogs as she delivers her invitations. The publicity give a lot of business to the club. Becky is still worried that her mom is going to want to move, so she uses prayer guidelines her youth pastor gave her. She prays with one of her friends and her prayers are answered. Becky's mom is accepted for a higher paying job and they will be able to stay in Santa Rosita. Becky learns it takes time for a prayer to be answered. She needs to be patient. Her mom learned to have courage, which she learned from Becky when she started the club.

Elaine Shulte has written 25 novels for women and children. She lives in San Diego, where she writes full-time. She has received a Distinguished Alumna award from Purdue.

One of the best parts of the book is when Becky used real pepperoni on her pizza cards, which caused her to be chased by dogs. The other part I enjoyed is the prayer guidelines sent by Bear, the youth pastor, and how he says God answers prayer in 4 different ways; yes, no, later, and thought you would never ask. The part I did not like is Becky's mother's unwillingness to try for a higher position and letting her mother know about it.

These books remind me a lot of the Babysitters' Club series, but these were better. I would recommend this book, because it shows us faith through prayer. Becky and Bear give us a better understanding of the importance of prayer to those who have a basic understanding of God and those who are learning more about Him.