YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP REVIEW PAGE !!!!!!!

The Yada Yada Prayer Group

Book One

Neta Jackson

About the Book

What do an ex-con, a former drug addict, a real estate broker, a college student and a married mother of two have in common?

Nothing, or so I thought. Who would have imagined that God would make a prayer group as mismatched as ours the closest of friends? I almost didn’t even go to the Chicago Women’s Conference—after all, being thrown together with five hundred strangers wasn’t exactly my “comfort zone.” But something happened that weekend to make us realize we had to hang together, and the Yada Yada Prayer Group” was born! When I faced the biggest crisis of my life, God used my newfound Sisters to show me what it means to be just a sinner saved by grace.

My Review

Are you kidding me!?! As always Neta has done it again ….not has she written one book but seven in this series!!!!!!! I am so overwhelmed with excitement….her books take you to places and people that you probably know in your personal life. And Neta will make you cry, laugh, and most of all PRAY!!!!!!! I can only hope the other six books in this series will be jus like this foist one…knowing Neta’s writing I am sure they will be !

I have set a page just for this series of books I will be reading and reviewing….

Was overly Blessed that she sent me ALL seven to read and review!!!!!!!!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK! TO ALL !!!!!!

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The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down

Book 2:

With Celebrations and Recipes

Neta Jackson

About Book

A robbery, a lynching, and a mourning mother shake up the Yada Yadas.

I had never felt so violated! The Yada Yada Prayer Group was "gettin' down" with God in prayer and praise one night when a heroin-crazed woman barged into my house, demanded our valuables, and threatened us with a 10-inch knife--a knife that drew blood.

We wondered if we'd ever get back to normal after this terrifying experience. I assumed we would. After all, we'd started praying together at the Chicago Women's Conference last spring, and we'd been through a lot already as spiritual sisters. This was just one more hurdle to conquer, right?

But then a well-meaning gesture suddenly incited a backlash of anger in the group, forcing us to confront generations of racial division, pain, and distrust--and stretching our friendship to the limit. And a shocking confrontation in my third-grade classroom forced me to face my own accountability and learn what true forgiveness really is.

My Review

I have really enjoyed reading the Yada Yada series. I think there's at least one person in the Yada Yada Prayer Group that someone can relate to. I also like the way they keep it real. In the Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down Again wasn't afraid to deal with cultural and racial differences and how even as Christians we can struggle with prejudices and stereotypes and as long as we acknowledge these feelings as being outside of the will of God and pray for them to be removed from our hearts. Sometimes in Christian fiction we read about super saints who never have an impatient thought and are close to perfect, this is not.

A good funny,spiritual and thought provoking book ! A MUST read !

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The Yada Yada Prayer Group

Gets Real

Book 3

Neta Jackson

About the Book

The Yada Yadas thought they had a handle on forgiveness, but it seems God has them on a crash-course to an even deeper level. After everything the Yada Yadas had been through in the past eight months, I told God I could sure use a little "dull and boring" in the new year! But that was before Leslie "Stu" Stuart moved in upstairs. Ms. Perfect herself and me--Jodi Baxter--living in the same two-flat? A recipe for collision. Then Delores Enriquez's son Jose wanted to throw my Amanda a quinceanera--a coming-out party, Mexican style--and they're only fifteen! At least Bandana Woman, who held up our Yada Yada Prayer Group at knife-point last fall, was safely locked up in prison . . . or so I thought. We visited her, like the Bible says; even sent her something for Christmas. But then she ends up back in our face. I mean, how far is forgiveness supposed to go? I guess I should have realized that with eleven Yada Yada sisters as diverse as a bag of Jelly Bellies, life would always be unpredictable. All I know is that the longer we Yada Yada pray together, the more "real" things are getting, not only with each other but with God. Dull and boring? Not a chance.

My Review

I have really enjoyed the first two Yada Yada books in this series and this book was just as good. I feel as if I have participated in their prayer group through the first three books and am looking forward to #4!

. I absolutely love the scriptures that permeate this story! I feel like I am reading a devotional and am inspired to do better in my own Christian walk. The Yada Yada girls just keep getting better with each book. I can totally relate to several of the characters and what they are going through. A great and easy read. I need my own Yada Yada prayer group. They are wonderfully uplifting !!! Hard to put down.
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The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough

(Yada Yada Series Book 4)

Neta Jackson

About the Book

The Yada Yadas got tight in the past year, but they're about to learn the real meaning of togetherness.

We'd done it: we'd taken a mismatched, diverse group of women and cobbled together a prayer group that really worked for all of us. Now that spring was here, we were celebrating our one-year anniversary--and a wedding, an early parole, and two baptisms in the lake! Everything was feeling pretty great.

But it's when we're in our comfort zone that we're most likely to let our guard down. Without warning, lots of little things seemed to become big problems. With a white supremacy hate group targeting a local university, our very diversity almost became a liability. It took a vicious attack on Nony's husband to make us see that we had to get tough--and fight back together.

My Review

My favorite cover!!! I love how Neta makes the reader think about the issue of racism within society and also within the church. She does this without being heavy handed or depressing. She also manages to help you understand how a lonely and insecure person can be duped by some of the hatred that is out there and even how easy it is for someone on guard against it to fall into a "Them vs. Us mindset"

They are fun, you can definitely relate to the characters, and spend several hours feeling like you are with women you know every day. I highly recommend this book, and any of the series to any woman.

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The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught: a novel

(Yada Yada Series Book 5)

Neta Jackson

About the Book

For the Yada Yadas, gettin' caught up in troubles isn't the problem; it's how to get free.

Only weeks ago, we Yadas toughened our prayer knees when one of our own was the victim of a vicious racial attack. Now it seems each household is being thrown into even bigger and badder circumstances. It especially worries me, Jodi Baxter, because I'm a fixer by nature, and the prayer list is getting out of control . . .

Ruth and Ben are caught up in an unplanned pregnancy--in their fifties! Chanda is deluded by the glitter of her lottery dream come true. Florida wants to move her family, hoping to leave trouble behind, but it looks like it may catch up to her anyway. And I'm finding that even good things like prayer group can consume me in no time flat.

If there is an upside, it's that all this trouble is revealing the subtle lies we Yadas believe about God, ourselves, each other, and life. Maybe our best hope is to catch on to what God's doing--and catch on quick!--before the enemy can take any prisoners. That'd be a freedom worth celebrating. And celebrating is what my spiritual sisters and I do best.

My Review

The Yada Yada Book 5 is a terrific look at an ensemble cast coming from different walks of life yet sharing in common prayer. It puts you in the right mind spiritually about how to continue to trust God even when things don't seem to go our way! I also like the scripture references because they give you ammunition to use in times of spiritual trouble. The amazing thing about this novel and its four predecessors is that Neta is able to keep her thirteen "lead" characters and their family members and friends distinct so that fans know what motivates each one of them. Though this deep character study can stand alone. Ms. Jackson provides another profound inspirational tale starring real people. Great Read and I highly recommend to all women of all ages!!!

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The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling

(Yada Yada Series Book 6)

Neta Jackson

About the Book

Just when the Yada Yadas want to get comfy, they realize God is on the move. It’s time for the sisters to let go . . . and let God take the lead.

These aren’t easy times for the Yada Yadas: a devastating fi re, an HIV diagnosis, loss of loved ones, and possible prison time loom over the sisters’ heads. More than once, they dissolve into tears and worry. But when so much seems to be going wrong, the sisters know where to turn . . . prayer. And as Jodi Baxter’s prayer life continues to be revolutionized by the Yada Yada Prayer Group, she begins to recognize God’s voice. It’s still, it’s small, and she often confuses it with her own feelings. But it’s there. When Jodi works up the courage to open herself to God’s plan, it propels her into a world completely outside her comfort zone: prison ministry. But as the sisters follow God’s lead, something happens—something that knocks their socks off. Reaching out in ways that are startling to others, they surprise even themselves. Because when this eccentric group of friends gets rolling, miracles will happen.

My Review

You will roll along with the Yadas as God wants them to try new things starting with expanding their sphere as everyone is welcomed in God's house. With this dramatic spin that widens the scope of the prayer group from its five previous tales; Neta inspires her audience to be all that God can help you to be. The ensemble cast expands with the blending of the two groups so that new problems emerge. So many different challenges the Yada Yada Prayer Group members to pray for guidance, to listen to that guidance, and to apply that guidance to one and all. It's a lot to keep track of, but Neta juggles all of the characters well. Although there is a scene at the local roller skating rink, the "rolling" in this latest title refers to the need for the group to push forward despite difficult circumstances. And as the Yada Yada series has shown, life is full of non-stop challenging moments.

BUT, always remember GOD is in control !!!

Again highly recommended to all women of all ages!

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The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out

(Yada Yada Series Book 7)

Neta Jackson

About the Book

In the thick of the holiday season, God gives the Yada Yadas an unforgettable celebration.

It’s that time of year, and the holidays are just around the corner. The Yada Yada Prayer Group is in a tizzy of excitement—kids home from college, turkeys to be roasted, gifts to buy, trees to decorate . . . not to mention getting decked out for a huge New Year’s Eve party to welcome back a few Yada Yada sisters who’ve been away too long. But when Jodi Baxter is thrown into a series of events that include a frenzied wedding, a newborn baby, and some strange encounters with a former student, the holiday season suddenly becomes just a jumble of chaos. As Jodi slows down long enough to look at each unexpected event from God’s point of view, she discovers what it means to be a part of God’s upside-down kingdom, decked out in compassion, kindness, and a huge willingness to let go of control. This will be a holiday that Jodi, her family, and her prayer-group sisters will never forget as they don their most festive outfits and raise the roof in a celebration of prayer and praise.

My Review

All of the Yada Yada Prayer Group books are great for a book club or women's group. You get to know the characters, which makes you want to find and buy each new book. I also love the fact that these are Christian women, but it never seems super preachy. I also love the diversity of the women - white, black, Jewish, Hispanic...wonderful!! Although the final novella in the series is slimmer than its chunky predecessors, in THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS DECKED OUT, Neta again offers an often thought-provoking story with a rainbow cast of characters that has spanned seven books.

I recommend ALL 7 books to all women of All ages!!

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About the Author

As a kid I was crazy about horses and animals of all kinds and loved to draw (horses, mostly). Since I didn't have a horse, I wrote stories about them instead. My high-school English teacher sent one of my stories (about a couger) to a Scholastic magazine writing contest and it won First Place . . . and the rest, as they say, is history. I wanted to be a writer!

I grew up on the campus of a private Christian school in Seattle where my parents were teachers. A lovely childhood, though fairly sheltered. But college took me back to the Chicago area and a whole new world. My husband and I settled in the Chicago area soon after getting married, and even though we both grew up in solid Christian homes, our search to deepen our faith took the form of Christian community for much of our family life raising kids. Eventually the critical issue of racial reconciliation became the call of God upon our life, and we chose to immerse ourselves in African American and multi-cultural churches. Our world and our hearts expanded. What a gift these relationships of faith have been!

All during this time, my husband and I have been a writing team--writing books with expert resource people (as their co-authors) on a variety of topics (from medical ethics to stories of gang kids), then writing a whole series of historical fiction about great Christian heroes--40 titles in all!--called the Trailblazer books (and a series of "Hero Tales," five volumes in all). Now we are each writing adult fiction--the Yada Yada Prayer Group series for me, which was inspired by my real-life Bible study sisters, a multi-cultural group of feisty women going on 12 years now that God has used to turn my life upside down, or rather, right side up! (I have to admit; sometimes my real world and my fictional world get a bit mixed up!)

I've been married for 40-plus years to the same wonderful man; we are truly partners in life. We raised two kids plus a Cambodian foster daughter, and together they've given us eight beautiful grandchildren! As one of my girlfriends and I agree: The best stress-busters in the world are pets, gardening, and grandkids!

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I received all of these books from the publisher in return for my honest review