Cara's Beach Party Disaster by Elaine Schulte

Cara’s Beach Party Disaster
By
Elaine L. Schulte
Series: The Twelve Candles Club #3
Published By: Bethany House Publishers
Copyrighted: 1993
Type of Book: Christian Fiction
Physical Description: Paperback, 5x7 inches
About the Book: Twelve-year-old Cara has problems at a beach party near her home in Santa Rosita Estates in California and she learns what true friends are like. Cara is a member of the Twelve Candles Club (they are all twelve) and they are all at her house for a movie and party. Cara's half-sister, Paige, picks out a movie and it turns out to be R rated so most of the club decides to leave, because it is not what God would want them to see. The next day at one of the club’s jobs they forgive each other; because Cara discovered Paige had done it on purpose. Cara's family doesn't attend church, so she decides to go with the members of the club. The youth pastor teaches them that God is there, we just need to answer and also the first five commandments. Cara is very eager to learn more and wants to apply it to her life. Paige is continuously mean and disrespectful to Cara, which damages Cara’s self-esteem. Cara continuously forgives her and tries to help her. At the beach party Cara has to wear Paige’s Bikini, and was approached by some college age men. She doubts her friends' compassion and decides to go on a date with one of them. When she meets the guy for a date there are other guys there to, her friends chase them off before something could happen. Paige comes to help Cara too. Paige and Cara talk and Cara learns her sister hurts and is mad, because Cara has a father who did not leave. Cara learns that her friends and Paige really do love, respect and forgive her as she does them. Cara also discovers how much God loves her.
What I liked: I liked how this book shows us that forgiveness can always be there for us and we need to remember to do it ourselves. Cara clearly shows what it feels like to forgive and need forgiveness. That is something we need to do daily.
What I disliked: I disliked how the author uses R rated movies and college age men to illustrated how much Cara's friends care about her.
Would I recommend: I would recommend this book to the older children in the age group (8-12). I would not want my eight year-old-reading this subject material.

Prayer of the Week

Dear Lord,
Thank you for this day. The weather has certainly been wonderful and you were speaking through the pastor today.

When it is time to read the Bible remind me that your words need not always make sense to me or come out the way I want them to. I will study the word again and again if I must until I understand them and they help me. Also help me remember not to be prideful or arrogant about my understanding.

Thank you for your love and forgiveness. In your name, Amen

My Jellybean Prayer Book by Diane Darr

My Jellybean Prayer Book was written by Diane Darr and illustrated by Reinbrook Studio. It was published in 2002 by CTA. It is an easy reader and it 14 pages long.
The illustrations are very colorful drawings with lots of jellybeans on each page. Each illustration contains a hidden jellybean. These colors get the point of the text across, because the jellybeans are brighter than the rest of the picture.
There are six jellybeans that the staff at CTA has chosen: speckled is sin, red is Jesus’ blood, blue is baptism, white is forgiveness, green is growing in faith, and yellow is the promise of heaven. Each jellybean gets its own story, prayer, and biblical text.
My 2-year-old enjoys the story and my 4-year-old enjoys the Biblical story. The 4-year-old especially likes the red jellybean, because Jesus died for our sins. This is an excellent story for encouraging children about Jesus.

Jess and the Fireplug Caper by Elaine Shulte

Jess and the Fireplug Caper was copyrighted in 1992 by author Elaine Shulte. This Christian fiction book was published by Bethany House Publishers and is 128 pages long. It is part of the Twelve Candles Club series and is for girls 8-12.

Somebody is robbing houses in Santa Rosita Estates and calling Jess on the phone making growling noises. A teen was robbing the houses and Jess’s brother Jordan was the one making the phone calls. Whenever there is a robbery in the neighborhood there is an old blue van. Jess’s mom begins a neighborhood watch. The girls of the Twelve Candles Club; Jess, Becky, Cara and Tricia are always watching as they go out on their different jobs. It is not until the very end when the burglar comes into Jess’s bedroom, when all the girls are there, that they are able to stop him. They are able to stop the burglar from stealing and as the burglar runs downs the street the entire neighborhood runs after him. He stops and gives up and the police arrest him. Throughout this book, Jess, her dad, and Jordan learn more about God and the strength he can give us. Jess needed that strength when she knocks over the burglar. Jess and Jordan learned about how we need to forgive and ask for forgiveness whether it is from our friends and family or our enemies.

Elaine Shulte, who has written over 25 novels, did an excellent job with her characters and the description. I could see the girls dressed in their clown costumes. The flow was so good I just wanted to keep reading.

There are two themes that arise in this book. The first one is forgiveness and the other is that in Christ we get strength and all things are possible. This book can help us realize that when we have Christ on our side and in our hearts we can do anything.

I liked how Becky and Tricia are always talking about God without being forcing Cara and Jess. I did not like how Jess’s mom was so negative against her father when he decided that it was time to start saying grace before eating.

This paperback book has dark print, which always encourages me to continue reading. I would recommend this book, because we need to be reminded about forgiveness and the strength we can find in Christ.