From AudioFile
Even those who normally aren't drawn to Christian fiction should give this novel a listen. That's because much honored narrator Barbara Rosenblat puts new gloss on her sterling reputation in its narration. Rosenblat depicts a large cast of characters masterfully, in particular differentiating the multinational members of the titular prayer group. Moving easily from goody-two-shoes Jodi Baxter to her Jamaican, Honduran, and South African friends, Rosenblat illuminates a diverse group of women who bond by facing life's challenges through prayer. When Rosenblat dramatizes the prayers of an African-American member, the listener is tempted to shout "hallelujah!" Bravo to Rosenblat for transforming a nice novel into a notable audiobook. J.J.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Book Description
What do an ex-con, a former 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 group as mismatched as ours the closet 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 I would be rooming with my boss, Avis, and I hoped that maybe I might make a friend or two. When Avis and I were assigned to a prayer group of twelve women at the conference, I wasn’t sure what to think. There was Flo, an outspoken ex-drug addict; Ruth, a Messianic Jew who could smother-mother you to death; and Yo-Yo, an ex-con who wasn’t even a Christian! Not to mention women from Jamaica, Honduras, South Africa – practically a mini-United Nations. We certainly didn’t have much in common. But something happened that weekend to make us realize we had to hang together. So "the Yada Yada Prayer Group" decided to keep praying for each other via e-mail. That worked for a while, but our personal struggles and requests soon got too intense for cyberspace, so we decided to meet together every other Sunday night. Talk about a rock tumbler!–knocking off each other’s rough edges, learning to laugh and cry along the way. But when I faced the biggest crisis of my life, God used my newfound girlfriends to help teach me – Jodi Baxter, longtime Christian "good girl" – what it means to be just a sinner saved by grace.


About the Author
Neta (pronounced Nee tuh) Jackson and her husband, Dave, are an award winning writing team, best known for the Trailblazer books – a forty-book series of historical fiction about great Christian heroes with 1.5 million in sales and Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes (Vols. 1-4). Neta has collected many honors for her work, including a 1995 C.S. Lewis Award and a God Medallion Award.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"A group of Chicago-area women from totally diverse backgrounds and life experiences are thrown together at a big weekend conference. Forming a prayer group, the women begin to chat via e-mail, having no idea how God's going to change their lives! As they write, their conversations get ""too hot"" and they decide to meet in person. Ruffled feathers are soon smoothed, and even super-Christian Jodi Baxter learns that we're all sinners, saved by grace!"

FROM THE CRITICS

AudioFile