Words by Ginny Yttrup - REVIEWED

"I collect words. I keep them in a box in my mind. I'd like to keep them in a real box, something pretty, maybe a shoe box covered with flowered wrapping paper. Whenever I wanted, I'd open the box and pick up the papers, reading and feeling the words all at once. Then I could hide the box. But the words are safer in my mind. There, he can't take them."


Ten-year old Kaylee Wren doesn't speak. Not since her drug-addled mother walked away, leaving her in a remote cabin nestled in the towering redwoods-in the care of a man who is as dangerous as he is evil. With silence her only refuge, Kaylee collects words she might never speak from the only memento her mother left behind: a dictionary.


Sierra Dawn is thirty-four, an artist, and alone. She has allowed the shame of her past to silence her present hopes and chooses to bury her pain by trying to control her circumstances. But on the twelfth anniversary of her daughter's death, Sierra's control begins to crumble as the God of her childhood woos her back to Himself.

My Thoughts:

“There isn’t a word for what I feel.” (p. 125)

Sierra Dawn and Kaylee Wren are people for whom words cannot begin to name the hurt that they feel and the pain they have suffered. Sierra, at the point in her life we meet in the story, is a thirty-four year old artist struggling beneath the stronghold of her past. Kaylee Wren is a ten-year-old that lives in the daily nightmare of poor choices created by her drug addicted mother. When these two lives intertwine, God sets in motion a miracle of love and grace, mercy and healing that only He could orchestrate. The journey is both painful, and beautiful, and it is one you will remember long after you read the final page.

Ginny Yttrup’s debut novel, Words, is a well-written story about some very difficult life circumstances. Sadly, the circumstances are all too real in many lives that have become enslaved to a variety of addictions. The resulting chaos and pain are vividly set forth in this novel alongside the wonderful grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father who does indeed redeem us from the vilest situations. He loves us in ways we cannot begin to fathom, and he never wastes a moment to share his glorious grace throughout our every circumstance.

Ginny Yttrup has captured truth – God’s truth – so beautifully and so poignantly that at times my heart ached so badly that I simply had to put the book down. However, by the end of the story, tears of pure delightful freedom ran down my face as I rejoiced in the truth of this story and all it means in my own life.

About the Author:

Ginny Yttrup is an author, freelance writer, and writing coach. As she writes, speaks, and coaches, her prayer is that God will use her words to replace the lies so many believe about themselves with the truth of His unconditional love and grace. To see someone grasp, perhaps for the first time, the truth of God's love, is truly an honor. Through a relationship with the Truth, Jesus Christ, the bonds of shame are loosed and freedom abounds!


When Ginny is not working, she loves spending time with her two college-age sons or with friends. She is surrounded by the most amazing people--each a gift in their own way. If she can spend time outdoors with those she love, it's even better. And she thoroughly adores her dog, Bear. He's a book lover too.


She has two grown sons and lives near Sacramento, California. Words is her first novel.