A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana

What a gem of a memoir, I can't believe it had escaped my notice all these years. Haven Kimmel writes of "growing up small" in a very small town in Indiana, where the population always remains at 300, someone always replacing one who leaves. Her memories are funny, bittersweet and strikingly accurate--whether it's the neighborhood bully, the grumpy druggist, a best friend who doesn't talk much--Zippy takes every little bit of minutae and makes it humorous and real. I would have to think that her being that youngest third child, that those much older siblings Melinda and Dan helped keep some of those funny Zippy stories alive as she grew up. From how to name a rooster, a strange love of Kojak, or a shrine to her first bike with streamers show more and a banana seat, Zippy brought back many great memories of those simply childhood days. show less

I agree with the book jacket quote that it is rare to see a memoir of a happy childhood. The writing has to be good, otherwise it’s like being captive to someone’s photo albums or home movies. The writing here is good and the book enjoyable. It felt strangely familiar and I think I know why. The book hits exactly the same note as the “Leave it to Beaver” TV series. That show was complete fantasy but the small town, happy family, life lessons theme is very similar. What struck me the most was the obvious poverty that Zippy grew up in did not factor in much to her story. I like that it was not left out or minimized. We see it from her happy childhood perspective.
From an adult perspective, there is a lot awry with the household.

Presented in a series of not always connected vignettes, Kimmel gives us a picture of simple, uncomplicated, untechnical life in the 1950s and 60s, growing up with a mother who is physically present, but mentally off in the land of her books (she seems to have lived almost permanently reclining on the sofa), and a father who could provide a seemingly coherent answer to just about any curious question Zippy dreamed up. Her observations on Jesus and organized religion will have you howling. They are funny without being sacriligious, and insightful far beyond the normal level of an 8-10 year old. There are several other stories written by Kimmel, and I'm definitely planning to explore them.

A charming collection of stories from a very unconventional childhood. I loved reading this book as it had be snorting and giggling at the antics of the author's family. I felt like I was part of the family by the end and wanted to hear a hundred more stories about them all. I also grew up in Indiana, so a lot of this was familiar but most of it was delightfully new. An unmitigated pleasure.

This is a memoir of a happy, if imperfect, childhood. Kimmel has a gift for putting the reader into the mind of an 8-year-old.

We learn about the evil old lady across the street, the pharmacist who can't be bothered with kids reading comic books in his store, the horrible neighbors with a sadistic son, beloved pets (chicken love), the freedom of riding your bike all over town (without touching the handlebars), favorite teachers, dreaded band leaders, best friends, schoolyard fights and the miracle of Christmas. But mostly we glimpse small-town life viewed from the safety of a loving (if unconventional) family.

I love this girl named Zippy.

Some reviews talk about the sad treatment of animals in this story. I think it's important to note that rural America does have a different take on man v animal. There are distinctions between barn cats and house cats, between family pets and hunting dogs, etc. I don't hold the author accountable for the way things are (or may be) in these types of stories. She is writing about an authentically different community life from one that would say put a family pet through 12 months of chemo.

This story made me laugh. Hard. I bought the tape for my sister and book copy for a friend. If the way life in this story is depicted isn't funny to some, maybe that's the point. Personally I keep it handy for the humorless landscape of winter and show more drudgery of office life in the big city. It's help enough to know that somewhere, out there in the Midwest perhaps, people are just getting by, too. Without all our veneer. Not because life is perfect, but what isn't perfect about life forces the characters in this story to consider what aspects of civility really matter. On a daily and hilarious basis. Let's recall, life begins in a rather undignified, messy manner, and it doesn't move far from that perch no matter the gloss we try to apply. The only gloss in this story is a healthy application of perspective and the steady relief of humor. And with her technique, Kimmel's story shines. show less

"It's a cliche to say that a good memoir reads like a well-crafted work of fiction, but Kimmel's smooth, impeccably humorous prose evokes her childhood as vividly as any novel. Born in 1965, she grew up in Mooreland Indiana, a place that by some mysterious and powerful mathematical prinicple retains a population of 300, a place where there's no point learning the street names because it's just as easy to say, "We live at the four-way stop sign."

Hers is less a formal autobiography than a collection of vignettes comprising the things a small child would remember; sick birds, a new bike, reading comics at the drugstore, the mean old lady down the street. The truths of childhood are rendered in lush yet simple prose; here's Zippy show more describing a friend who hates wearing girls' clothes: "Julie in a dress was like the rest of us in quicksand." Over and over we encounter pearls of third-grade wisdom revealed in a child's assured voice. "There are a finite number of times one can safely climb the same tree in a single day". show less