The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down (Yada Yada Prayer Group Series #2) »

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.

Publishers Weekly

Jackson examines the many facets of forgiveness, grace, racial prejudice and healing in this enjoyable follow-up to The Yada Yada Prayer Group, which has 75,000 copies in print. The adventures of the praying, ethnically diverse group of Chicago Christians, "that drawer full of crazy-colored, mismatched socks," are about to accelerate. Jodi Baxter's physical scars from her car accident continue to heal, but her emotional turmoil returns in the form of nightmares. She's further challenged when her friend Adele Skuggs's elderly and failing mother mistakenly believes Jodi's husband, Denny, is a man from the past who lynched her brother. Adele finds her prejudices against all white people simmering and takes a hiatus from the prayer group. Further disaster strikes when the women are robbed at knifepoint by a crazed drug addict. Only forgiveness and prayer will heal the women's guilt and fear. The talented Jackson peoples her novels with delightful characters, and there's enough detail about the meals to make even a picky eater's mouth water. The scenes detailing different church services can be too lengthy, and a plot contrivance involving a boy's surprising identity strains credibility. Laced with humor, fine description, and interesting and realistically flawed characters, however, this well-paced story is certain to keep fans turning the pages. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\