WORDS (GINNY L. YTTRUP)

Story Description: 

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.   

Brought together by Divine design, Kaylee and Sierra will discover together the healing mercy of the Word – Jesus Christ. 

My Review: 

I have never read a more sad story of abuse and have never felt so close to a character as I did little Kaylee Wren.  What a beautiful, innocent little girl whose life circumstances have thrown her into a world of silence.   

Kaylee was only 9-years-old when her mother, Kathryn, left her leaving her all alone with a horrendous man who lords his power over Kaylee and turns her into his own private play toy.  Kaylee likes to collect words that she finds in a dictionary that was given to her parents as a wedding gift.  Kaylee and her Mom used the dictionary often to look up words they didn’t know or understand.  The dictionary makes Kaylee feel like part of her Mom is still there with her and takes special care of it so “he” won’t find it and take it away from her. 

When Kaylee meets Sierra, an equally damaged soul, the two of them form a bond of trust, respect, love, and the belief that together they can conquer all things through Jesus Christ.  However, the road to healing is a long and exhaustive one that comes with many, many pitfalls that must be traversed forward and sometimes backwards before moving on to a higher understanding of their positions and circumstances in this life. 

The characters were so well developed in this story that I felt I was living with Sierra and Kaylee and could picture in my mind’s eye the house, Kaylee’s bedroom, Van the dog, their backyard and everything else involved in this story.  My emotions were played like a flute in a concert while reading this book and it’s a story I won’t ever forget.  The unfortunate part is that there are many, many Kaylee Wren’s in this world and not all of them are fortunate enough to find someone like Sierra.  It breaks my heart to think of the number of children, who at this very moment while typing this review, are being abused in some form.  Abuse, whether it be physical, sexual, verbal, financial doesn’t matter, abuse is a cancer in our society and I pray that someday it can be eradicated.  No one deserves to live a life of abuse and the damage and fear it causes.  This book really touched my heart and to the author, Ginny L. Yttrup, I’d like to say “thank you” for having the courage to write WORDS, your own life story but injecting Kaylee as the character instead of yourself.  I’m sorry for the horror you faced as a child and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.