The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out (The Yada Yada Prayer Group, Book 7) [Paperback]

Neta Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2007

From Thanksgiving and Christmas to rolling in the New Year, the Yada Yadas are "decked out" to celebrate the holidays!

Turkey dinners, tree trimming, and decking the halls--it's that time of year again! And I, Jodi Baxter, can't wait to celebrate. My kids are coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then all of us Yadas are getting decked out for a big New Year's party.

But God's idea of "decked out" might just change the nature of our party plans. A perplexing encounter with a former student, a crime that literally knocks me off my feet, a hurry-up wedding, and a child who will forever change our family...it's times like these that I really need my prayer sisters.

This holiday season, we Yada Yadas are learning that no one can out-celebrate God. So let's get this party started!

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (October 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595543619
• ISBN-13: 978-1595543615
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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, rightside 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!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last entry in series is a true pleaser, November 21, 2007

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out (The Yada Yada Prayer Group, Book 7) (Paperback)

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out by Neta Jackson is sadly the last entry in this long-running, fantastic series. Jodi Baxter is getting ready for the holidays when she's mugged, throwing her plans into turmoil. But that's nothing compared to a surprise wedding, orphaned baby, and the end of Yada Yada as we know it. First of all, I was thrilled to find out that I was going to get to review this book. I've read the rest of the series and couldn't wait for this one. I was not disappointed. Jodi is still struggling to give it up to God, but the differences between this Jodi and the one from the first book are amazing. Jackson has done a terrific job allowing these characters to grow in realistic ways while bringing up tough topics for them (and us) to deal with. There are many lessons about God's love and how he works all things for good for those who love and believe in Him. Many scenes brought tears to my eyes, especially the scene when Denny took off his shoes; that brought chills. Other scenes had a bittersweet tint to them. Sweet because they demonstrated the Lord working, bitter because this is the end of the line. I am sad to see this series go, and it's one I regularly recommend to others for it's honest treatment of the races and racism, as well as other social justice issues. Jackson has enlightened me not only on God's love, but also how I view the world. I can't wait for the next series to start!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and thought-provoking, October 17, 2007

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out (The Yada Yada Prayer Group, Book 7) (Paperback)

Although the final novella in the series is slimmer than its chunky predecessors, in THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS DECKED OUT, Neta Jackson again offers an entertaining and often thought-provoking story with a rainbow cast of characters that has spanned seven books. Yada Yada fans won't want to miss it. If you haven't read the first six books, take note: you'll want to stop reading here and start with THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP and read them in order.

We left our characters in Chicago at the end of THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS ROLLING in all various stages of crisis and growth. Manna House, the women's homeless shelter, had burned to the ground because of a dry Christmas tree and faulty wiring. Now, almost two years later, thanks in part to Chanda George's lottery winnings, a new brick building is in place and ready to be dedicated. Jodi and Denny Baxter's son Josh and his fiancée Edesa Reyes are still in love, but a new twist in their relationship raises question marks. Josh's sister Amanda is in college, a beloved four-footed member of the family is gone for good and the Baxters are discovering what it means to truly have an "empty nest."

More updates: SouledOut Community Church is blending the two original congregations, Uptown Community Church and New Morning Church, and is now a melting pot of races and cultures. The aging Ruth and Ben Garfield are now the parents of two-year-old twins, and "there ought to be medals for mothers in their fifties," sighs Ruth. Becky Wallace has a job with UPS and is able to take care of her young son, Little Andy, again.

A lot more has happened in two years. Hoshi Takahashi has returned to Japan, hoping to build a relationship with her estranged parents who disapprove of her Christian faith. Nonyameko and Mark Sisulu-Smith are in South Africa but coming home soon, and Florida Hickman's son Chris, who seemed headed for jail, is now enrolled in one of Chicago's elite art programs. Avis Johnson Douglass's daughter Rochelle and grandson Conny are independent again, after Rochelle escaped an abusive marriage and was diagnosed with HIV. Yo-Yo Spencer's brother is in the army and seems likely to be deployed to Iraq. And this is just the beginning of what's happening with the colorful and chaotic group.

Prayer, of course, is front and center, and with the Yada Yadas, it's vocal and enthusiastic ("Yes, Jesus! Mm-mm." "You're an on-time God!"). Prayer is especially important in the early pages for Jodi, when Amanda brings home a football player friend from college for Thanksgiving vacation that sets Jodi's teeth on edge. She and God have plenty of conversations in italics, which mostly serve to remind her that she needs to show the grace to Neil that she's been given herself: Thanks, God, for keeping me from shooting off my big fat mouth. Other events transpire that require prayer and lots of it: a baby is seemingly abandoned, a young women dies, a former student looks as if he's been abused, one of the Yada Yada women is mugged...well, there's not much that doesn't happen in the 200-plus pages.

A plot twist involving the young boy who stole a purse may seem like a stretch to some readers, but it won't keep you from grabbing a hanky before the final page is turned. Recipes and ideas for celebrating the holidays conclude this amazing series, which will be missed by legions of faith fiction fans.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best one yet., October 11, 2007

By 

Julia K. Pferdehirt "Julia" (Middleton, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out (The Yada Yada Prayer Group, Book 7) (Paperback)

The last in the Yada yada Prayer Group series, in many ways this final book is my favorite. Some of my favorite characters come into their own in this culminating story. Neta Jackson has done an amazing job of creating a story and characters about which I genuinely care. This last book brought to mind and heart the many times I've been stretched as a parent by my children's choices - even their good ones!
And, good old Jodi is SO different from the irritating religious good-girl I found so annoying in book 1. Today, after watching her grow over 7 books, I'd love to be her friend. To call her up and say, "Let's meet midway between your house and mine and grab a cup of coffee!"