The Yada Yada Prayer Group

Title: The Yada Yada Prayer Group
Author: Neta Jackson (pronounced Nee-tuh)
Genre: Fiction (for women)

Well, my eyes were drawn to this book when it first came out last year. The bright pink cover with the mix matched socks just seemed to pop off the shelf. I just wasn't sure about that title...Yada Yada Prayer Group? The book got passed around to a group of ladies here at church it was finally my turn to read the novel and satisfy my curiosity. Yada Yada made for a nice relaxing read.

Jodi Baxter is a wife, mother, and teacher who learns a serious lesson that she is really just a sinner saved by grace. She is an average, everyday white female living in the city of Chicago. She is invited to the Chicago Women's Conference by her boss. A little nervous around large crowds, she is thrilled to find out that she is also a part of a smaller group... "prayer group 26". A series of events ties "prayer group 26" together long past the conference. Because the group becomes tight, they deem it necessary to give themselves a name....and Yada Yada is born (BTW- the group is thrilled to find out that Yada Yada actually means to perceive, understand or acquire knowledge...just in case you were interested.)

The author does a pretty good job of tying all the characters together. Considering there are 12 ladies in the prayer group, then Jodi Baxters husband (Denny) and two teen age children (Amanda & Josh) also play a staring role in the story, that's a lot of characters to develop. The story rides a long at an even pace until you get to chapter 37 when tragedy comes to Jodi and the pace of the book picks up nicely. However, there are only 41 chapters in the book so the ending feels kind of rushed. (In our house we would call this a "Star Trek" ending...for all you Trekkie fans).

There is a sequel called The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down and I'm wondering if that book will have a faster pace since the characters have already been developed.

In Yada Yada there are many references to songs, denominations, Bible stories, etc. that Christians will find themselves familiar with. For me that was enjoyable and refreshing. To someone not familiar with today's contemporary Christianity, it might not take as quickly. Those also familiar with the Chicago area will identify with several things mentioned in the book such as transportation issues, street names, and pizza places! I also appreciated the diversity of the culture and lingo expressed in the book.