false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255882129m/15167.jpg 15167 9 Haven Kimmel's memoir <i>She Got Up Off the Couch</i> might have been called <i>The Further Adventures of Zippy</i>, since it picks up where her bestselling <i>A Girl Named Zippy</i> left off, and is reeled out in much the same vein. The person who got up off the couch is Zippy's mother, Delonda, who for years sat on the titular sofa, ate, read, and watched TV until she weighed 268 pounds and life was nearly unbearable. You would never know the bad parts from Haven Kimmel, who always concentrates on the bright side, even though she lived in a house without heat, food, indoor plumbing, a dependable water suppy or even a modicum of cleanliness. Kimmel loves her parents inordinately, even at their most unlovable. <p> Delonda takes a College Entrance exam, passes it and enrolls at Ball State, where she completes a degree in two years, goes on for a Master's and gets a job as a high school teacher. That sounds fairly straightforward but it wasn't easy. Bob Jarvis, Delonda's husband and Zippy's father, gave her no help at all; in fact, he ridiculed her and ignored her progress. Eventually, he found someone else while Delonda was busy reclaiming her life. We could read this as a tale of the times, where a woman takes charge of herself, loses 120 pounds and, against all odds, gains an education and a livelihood. It is all of that, and more. <p> Life in Mooreland, Indiana, in the 1970s is not very exciting, but Zippy finds wonder everywhere and often laughed until she "tipped right over." There is an unquenchable spirit in the girl, and then in the woman, that keeps popping up despite a very sketchy upbringing. The neighbors fed and bathed her, she wore the same pair of pants to school every day for an entire school year--without benefit of laundry. Her brother and sister lit out at the first chance they had--though Melinda ends up only a few blocks away and becomes another safe port for Zippy. She is a victim of benign neglect, not malice or meanness. <p> Her tales of church camp, days with her friends, driving with her Dad, going to a play with her Mother, her love for her niece and nephew and her discovery that her Dad is having an affair are all told in typical Zippy-style: they are humorous, poignant, exuberan, and often breathless. Stay tuned: this book ends when Zippy is only thirteen. Hopefully there's more to come. <I>--Valerie Ryan</I> 137846 2005 She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana total:1883|5:573|4:856|3:372|2:70|1:12| 1883 7557 2652 476 1 2 false false Mon Jul 07 12:16:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 07 12:30:45 -0700 2008


]]> 4 2 false false Fri Apr 18 19:36:15 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 20 12:45:18 -0700 2008 4 1 false true Sun Sep 14 05:37:48 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 05:39:34 -0700 2008 A Girl Named Zippy” last year for book club and really liked it. This was the sequel. This is not a story that goes from one period of time and flows to the next. It’s several chapters about different people and different things that happened in “Zip...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Mar 20 15:04:25 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 20 15:08:56 -0700 2008 To see things from a child's point of view, but to have it articulated through a well spoken adult is a rare thing.
Zippy's experience's weren't always funny, but her perspective on them usually was.
It just goes to show you ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 18:07:02 -0700 2008 Fri May 23 23:56:59 -0700 2008 A Girl Named Zippy" a few years ago and remember enjoying it, so when I saw this at the bookstore, I couldn't pass it up. I really liked this book, I think even more than the first one. The author knows how to turn a phrase in an amusing and clever way that makes me laugh out lou...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 15:11:21 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 14:17:16 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 20:08:48 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 20:27:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 15 14:02:15 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 14:08:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 21:27:22 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 07:22:25 -0700 2009
At first I was not so sure about She Got Up Off the Couch. It seemed like outtakes from the first book, and the aw shucks introduction justifying a sequel worried me. ("I didn't expect much from that little book. I was an...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Sep 25 20:51:14 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 21:07:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jul 11 07:36:13 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 10:15:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 15:50:31 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 15:54:57 -0700 2009
They're not. They're dryly funny and extremely insightful. Deceptively simplistic in their s...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 15:49:13 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 15:13:45 -0800 2009 A Girl Named Zippy before reading this, but I kinda wish that I had. I'm sure I will someday. Even so, I got a riotous kick out of this and read the whole thing in one go. My favourite bit was when George, the non-hitchhiker, was staying at the house (yard, actually). Zippy showed him ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Dec 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 15 14:10:36 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 14:10:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Mar 26 12:59:16 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 13:06:03 -0700 2009
...more...]]> 2 0 true false Sun Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 16:57:58 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 17:02:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 10:55:09 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 11:01:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 09:09:51 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 22:29:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 10:42:11 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 10:48:32 -0700 2009 once more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 12:29:02 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 12:35:13 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=15167