Neta Jackson The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough

Neta Jackson

Integrity, Nov 2005, $13.99

ISBN: 1591453585

Jodi Baxter feels real good that the Chicago area Yada Yada Prayer Group is celebrating their first anniversary especially since the diversity of the participants should have meant failure. The woes culminated with Becky "Bandana Woman" Wallace holding them at knifepoint, but even she recently joined and was baptized in Lake Michigan. However, like a prophet Jodi warns that Satan will show up when you feel spiritually satisfied.

White supremacist Kent detests the politically correct mumbo jumbo and begins distributing hate pamphlets at Northwestern University and in the nearby neighborhoods. Mark, the husband of congregant Nony is upset when he finds what Kent is fostering in the name of freedom of speech. Jodi worries that her son might have joined this hate group, but also prays for the shy woman accompanying Kent on his mission. As racial discord violently surfaces, the Yada Yada Prayer Group wonders if the serpent has turned their group into the Tower of Babel as they seemingly lost their ability to communicate with one another.

The fourth book in the Yada Yada series is a complex entry that enables the audience to see how diverse in race and belief the thirteen females in the group are though each makes different levels of appearances. Gets Tough can stand alone, but readers will better appreciate the depth of the ensemble cast (the Yada Yadas and their families) by reading the previous tales first. Still this interesting novel provides a deep look at de jure and de facto covert discrimination and how overt racism impacts on victims, "believers", and enablers. Praying for the loathers is the prime tool to defeat the racists and their supporters. Neta Jackson provides a powerful tale of "eracism" through prayer.

Harriet Klausner