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A Girl Named Zippy (Zippy #1)

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 · rating details · 18,409 ratings · 2,752 reviews

This "Today Show" book club selection is now available on audio.
Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds her.
Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-to...more

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Published October 6th 2005 by HighBridge Audio (first published March 20th 2001)

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Feb 09, 2008 Jonathan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

[Ack -- 3 out of 5 stars seems so vague, as meaningless as ratings in general; 3 out of 5 is so ... Rolling Stone.]

Anyway, true or false: Are male memoirists seen as witty, pithy, and insightful while female memoirists are derided as self-involved or -indulgent? Food for thought, and not just pertaining to lit. I have everything in mind from Anne Lamott vs. Donald Miller to Justin Timberlake's career arc vs. Janet Jackson's relative plummet (think Super Bowl '04).

Now to this memoir about "Growin...more [Ack -- 3 out of 5 stars seems so vague, as meaningless as ratings in general; 3 out of 5 is so ... Rolling Stone.]

Anyway, true or false: Are male memoirists seen as witty, pithy, and insightful while female memoirists are derided as self-involved or -indulgent? Food for thought, and not just pertaining to lit. I have everything in mind from Anne Lamott vs. Donald Miller to Justin Timberlake's career arc vs. Janet Jackson's relative plummet (think Super Bowl '04).

Now to this memoir about "Growing Up Small In Mooreland, Indiana" (subtitle): It's not at all necessary, and it's thoroughly amusing. Kimmel's vignettes of her childhood spent as a strange bird surely make up for not having spoken a word until age 3. She unloads on her immediate family, on her childhood chums and (un)patient schoolteachers, and on her fellow parishioners at the local Quaker church. And on all the crotchety old people (the drugstore owner, the lady with 68+ animals) in the much-afraid way that only a child can.

These dispatches, worded cleverly but mostly through the speak of a 5- to 9-year-old girl, let her get away with saying what she will about the people. Over 275 pages it makes for one round of chuckles after another, as Kimmel largely uses her gifts of wit and wording for the powers of good.

You can see why her book rankled some townspeople, though. Some of the bits seem like they simply must be distorted or embellished; they're Sedaris-esque in that respect, but in defense of that, this isn't a historical document. People like this know that laughter can still be a brand of medicine. Others among her stories just have to be true, such as the account of her brother, late for the school bus, ripping the bathroom door off its hinges and forceably removing their sister from the sink. (Holy empathy!)

Kimmel's parents are the best-drawn here. Meanwhile her older sibs, Dan and Melinda, are given relatively short shrift. Sometimes she began an anecdote about one or the other, and it just trailed off or ended without the depth into their beings hoped for. Ah, well. So it goes when you're 7.

“He was tall and muscular, but lean, and he unconsciously flexed his jaw muscles all the time, the way some people jingle the spare change in their pocket. Of my parents’ children my brother fared the best, genetically speaking, and was in fact so handsome that both Mom and Dad were reluctant to take credit. Regardless of the fact that he was beautiful, and should have had every advantage because of it, the world was not right for my brother. There was some standard by which he measured everyone, all human activity, without articulating it or giving us any clue where we were going wrong. He was silent and furious nearly all the time. Girls were crazy about him.”

She's a bit smug about her own unbelief when it comes to the local Friends, and to a so-holy classmate or two, but a couple of the briefs on her religious upbringing (all while adhering to nothing really) are poignant.

Could've done without the slightly disturbing image of Jesus accompanying one chapter, but a lot of the other photos are just classic. In the end, she's penned a breezy, decidedly happy childhood memoir (holy rarity!), and I'm glad she could get it out of her system and, however briefly, lodge it in mine.

“I had some disappointments with Santa, but not many. The only clear one I remember is the year I asked for a Skipper doll, who was an early, extra-perky friend of Barbie. Nobody had Barbies in Mooreland, and this could have posed a problem for the social Skipper, which might have been what Santa was thinking. Skipper was not the kind of girl to thrive in solitude. She wasn’t doing much looking inside.”(less)

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Dec 28, 2008 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-edition, autobiography-memoir, quirky, nonfiction, families, funny, indiana, borrowed-from-the-library, actually-own

This is an absolutely hysterical down-home kind of memoir of Haven Kimmel’s growing up years in Mooreland, Indiana. She’s goofy and strange, and full of spunk and energy. Listen to the audiobook, which is read by the author, as she really brings her own experiences to life. She’s got a childlike innocence still that resonates in this work. The scene where her dad borrows all of the hunting dogs to get back at a cranky neighbor is truly one of the most amusing things I have ever heard. This is no...more

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Jan 18, 2008 Amber rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zippy was a mottled mess of mixed up and metastasized memories. The whole time I was reading it I kept wondering why it is that I liked it. But I did like it, despite it's obvious flaws. Any book that can make me laugh out loud is worth reading. I enjoyed the author's flippant, unceremonious style of writing. Her character, Zippy, was bright and reckless, loveable and startling all at the same time. I found it interesting how well she wrote from a teen, tween, child's perspective. I got sucked i...more

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Nov 09, 2007 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever come across. I tore through it, often laughing OUT LOUD in inopportune public places (you know, when you are reading something funny and you kind of guffaw and then catch yourself, stifle the laugh, and look around to see if anyone is watching?).

It's hard to explain what it is about, because it is really just what the subtitle says: "Growing Up Small In Mooreland, Indiana." It's an autobiographical collection of impressions, moments, memories, fu...more

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May 06, 2008 Ashley rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ashley by: Book Group/Michelle

I had completely mixed feeling about this book. One minute I was laughing out loud (I loved the part when the cat falls down the chimney and gets drop-kicked out the front door by the nast old lady neighbor), because there are some awfully funny bits, and the next I was feeling very awkward and wanted to escape this girl's terrible environment.
What is wierdly endearing though is how she seems to be blissfully unaware/unaffected by events any one of which would have caused me some emotional scar...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Indra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just reread this book and remembered how much I love it. I give it five stars even though I like the sequel, "She Got Up Off the Couch", a bit better...both are so very beautifully written. I love the narrator's clear-eyed child's view of the people around her, and the fact that this tells the story of a different world than most of us know, the mostly idyllic small town many years ago. Serious issues are hinted at, not avoided, but neither are they dwelled upon. I loved the characterization o...more

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Nov 18, 2007 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was pleasurable enough to read, but because it wasn't very plot driven, it took me forev-ER to complete. Zippy's narration is amusing and I enjoyed her descriptions of a more innocent time of small town Americana, when farm animals were kept in backyards, and kids could ride their bikes (complete with streamers and horns) to the corner drug store for a 26 cent lemon phosphate. But beyond that, I'm not entirely sure what she was trying to convey in her memoir, and I wasn't compelled to...more

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May 20, 2007 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: grownupbooks

This is the book I reach for when I need a pick-me-up...a reminder that life is humorous and wonderful and that even the everyday moments are meaningful…that even the quietest, smallest life is worth living. Haven Kimmel's childhood memoir is more than a stroll down memory lane...she pieces together her life, her family, and her town until the reader sees her so clearly, you may feel convinced afterwards that you grew up with her! The writing is sharp, witty, and refreshingly uplifting. You will...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Caris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: quirky grandmothers

Shelves: 2012

I have always been terrible at taking notes. I don’t often do it, and, when I do, my scrawlings typically consist of whatever a speaker or text says verbatim. Once my notes are completed, they’re never consulted again. Because of this, I’ve never shown any aptitude for language acquisition, science, math, or history.

This “problem” (if it can be called that) has bled into my recreational reading. When I was in high school, I had a teacher (and another in college) who was a strong advocate for wri...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You know that moment in life when you realize that stories of the things that loom large in childhood -- like your absolute terror of the woman who lives next door or your absolute certainty that some of the cards in a deck of playing cards are female and some male -- can be condensed, as if through a trash compactor, into little nuggets of pure cuteness and innocence that you can then hand to others for the rest of your life in one long show-and-tell, knowing they are obligated to laugh nostalg...more You know that moment in life when you realize that stories of the things that loom large in childhood -- like your absolute terror of the woman who lives next door or your absolute certainty that some of the cards in a deck of playing cards are female and some male -- can be condensed, as if through a trash compactor, into little nuggets of pure cuteness and innocence that you can then hand to others for the rest of your life in one long show-and-tell, knowing they are obligated to laugh nostalgically and then hand you theirs?

Actually I don't know quite what or when that moment of realization is, but we all must go through it to get to adulthood, because we all have those anecdotes we tell -- the things we were afraid of, the things we were sure of -- told now with the requisite amused adult chuckle and shake of the head.

This book is basically a collection of those from the life of Haven Kimmel, and where you might expect to find them cloying in bulk, they are anything but. Maybe she just tells them better than most people. Or maybe she has better, funnier stories. Or maybe she does a better job of keeping the events to the scale of childhood perception. She doesn't bring in a lot of "I know so much better now" voiceover, which is refreshing.

But I think it has the most to do with her always having seen herself as a character. The caboose in her family, late to talk and late to grow hair, little Zippy seems more like her family's mascot than their third child, and even as a kid she seems to know she has more leeway and can exist more languidly in her childhood fancies than perhaps her siblings were able to.

It helps that she has parents who seem to enjoy her and share in her delight in just making stuff up. For no apparent reason, they tell her she was adopted from a family of gypsies (traded for an especially nice bag), even though you have only to look at a single baby picture to know it's a lie. Her dad's a bit unhinged, and her mom exhibits signs of depression, but their affection for Zippy and their taste for the absurd are such constants that somehow this still manages to be a book about a happy childhood, without sanitizing or idealizing it. Two steps over in tone and this could have been a different kind of memoir (think Julia Scheeres' Jesusland). But being essentially down with the goofiness and even the trials of youth is what makes A Girl Name Zippy unique and so worth giving yourself over to.

Some chapters are better than others, but whatever -- basically I just envy everyone who still has this book ahead of them.(less)

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May 05, 2013 Fergie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anyone who grew up in small town America in or around the 1970's will most likely enjoy this book, if only for the fact that he/she will find it so relatable. Like a good comedian, the author finds light and humor in the mundane, daily activities of small town life. Haven Kimmel is both cynical and quick with her assessment of her childhood experiences as well as describing the individuals with whom she had those experiences. Just when you think Kimmel is devoid of any faith in humanity and the...more

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Dec 06, 2008 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Absolutely a wonderful, funny, insane, clever book. Read it, read it, read it.

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May 14, 2009 Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of memoir and short stories; anyone who grew up in a small town

Shelves: memoirs, nonfiction

I must say that it is refreshing to read a memoir in which the author does not grow up in a dysfunctional family or face overwhelming odds in his or her life.

This is the story of a normal, small-town childhood. Zippy was an odd little creature of a child, but I found her adventures to be amusing and the descriptions of her family and neighbors to be well drawn.

I grew up in a suburb rather than a small town, one year before Haven Kimmel, so I could relate to the cultural references. (Although I'v...more I must say that it is refreshing to read a memoir in which the author does not grow up in a dysfunctional family or face overwhelming odds in his or her life.

This is the story of a normal, small-town childhood. Zippy was an odd little creature of a child, but I found her adventures to be amusing and the descriptions of her family and neighbors to be well drawn.

I grew up in a suburb rather than a small town, one year before Haven Kimmel, so I could relate to the cultural references. (Although I've never had a lemon phosphate in my life, and I don't even know what that is!)

The book had several memorable passages, such as "Dad had a way of emphasizing certain words that was like Winnie-the-Pooh gone bad," or "it's hotter than billy-be-doggone bangtree outside."

It makes me realize how much excess our children are growing up with to read about how special that one Christmas present was, or how much Kimmel coveted her friend's small jewelry box from Acapulco (lined with red velvet and covered with little shells).

Kimmel writes about viewpoints and experiences that feel so genuine--like how she didn't really believe in Jesus, but she wanted him to be her boyfriend instead. Or how she intuited that the music teacher was hurting, or threatening to hurt her best friend when he gave her private lessons after school, so she insisted on staying there with her friend.

This was definitely a book worth reading. The only reason I am not giving it four stars is that I was ready to be done with it at the end, so I could move onto something that moved on a little more quickly. The chapters did not really connect to each other in any way; it was like a series of short stories about small town life. And I'm not really a fan of short stories. The book left me wondering what happened to her parents and brother, in particular, all complex and sad characters in their own way. Her sister, I have no doubt, has probably lived a happy life.

P.S. I have just read that Kimmel wrote a Zippy Part 2 book, in which I might find out the answers to my questions. I will take a break and then read that one, too, sometime in the next year. Maybe my questions will be answered!(less)

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Jun 07, 2008 Desiree rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who grew up in a small town or wants to know what it's like

This book is guffaw-out-loud-on-the-subway-despite-the-stares funny!!!

From the book...

"The distance between Mooreland in 1965 and a city like San Francisco in 1965 is roughly equivalent to the distance starlight must travel before we look up casually from a cornfield and see it." (From A Girl Named Zippy, p. 2.)

Haven Kimmel may be older than me but we both grew up in small towns and I found her literary musings about said life to resonate very deeply. I remember growing up in rural Maryland and...more

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Mar 12, 2008 Cynthia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Michelle, Erin, Karen

Recommended to Cynthia by: book club book

I absolutely loved this book. It is a very funny, light, sweet book.

A Girl Called Zippy is a childhood memoir of Haven, aka Zippy. She tells stories from her babyhood till about 10-12 years old. She lived in a small town in Indiana with about 300 people. Unlike other biographies, it did not involve this serious tone with serious topics about death, illness, war, love, etc... Instead Zippy told oridinary, yet hilarious stories from a child's point of view. She told stories and exaggerated like a...more

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Sep 09, 2007 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone with an interest in childhood memoirs that lean more towards the amusing than the tragic.

A pass-along from my mom, I read through A Girl Named Zippy in just a few hours over the past couple of days.

A memoir along the lines of Jean Shepherd (of A Christmas Story fame), Kimmel recalls vignettes from her rather bizarre childhood in the tiny town of Mooreland, Indiana. She was "an afterthought" with siblings 10 and 13 years older than she; slow to talk (her first words -- actually a complete sentence - coming at age three) and by her own description, funny-looking. She was also quite th...more A pass-along from my mom, I read through A Girl Named Zippy in just a few hours over the past couple of days.

A memoir along the lines of Jean Shepherd (of A Christmas Story fame), Kimmel recalls vignettes from her rather bizarre childhood in the tiny town of Mooreland, Indiana. She was "an afterthought" with siblings 10 and 13 years older than she; slow to talk (her first words -- actually a complete sentence - coming at age three) and by her own description, funny-looking. She was also quite the tomboy, wearing dresses only under protest & preferring to climb trees and ride her bike all around town.

Her father worked at a local factory and liked to drink, gamble and hunt. He gave her the nickname of Zippy, "after a little chimpanzee he saw on television". Her mother spent most her days lost in books, housework being a distant concern. Since her brother & sister were so much older, she was more of a plaything or nuisance to them than a sibling. The ways Kimmel tells the story, you can see their shortcomings -- the poverty and resignation; but little Zippy was blissfully unaware, her time and energy spent with the animals of the neighborhood or getting into minor scrapes.

Her friends were as oddball as she: Julie, who didn't talk; Rose, the only left-handed Catholic in town; Dana from Los Angeles. There were adult eccentrics as well: the old lady who walked her dog around town all day and had a house full of cats; the drug store owner who always yelled at her. Religion, a major feature of small-town Midwestern life, wasn't really for Zippy, as she recalls her distaste for going to church with her mother, and a revelation about her father's spiritual life.

Kimmel definitely has a way with words - her turns of phrase gave me reason to do quite a bit of underlining. "There are a finite number of times one can safely climb the same tree in a single day". Some of the stories are laugh-out-loud funny; others are very touching. Having grown up in small towns in Michigan and Indiana; I could relate with the atmosphere of her hometown. Recommended to anyone with an interest in childhood memoirs that lean more towards the amusing than the tragic.
(less)

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Apr 03, 2011 Lori (Hellian) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Considering that I have just finished the final book of a 10 book series that has had me obsessed for the last 5 years, and the philosophical implications of said series have kept me thoughtful for a week now, any other book that engrossed me as much as Zippy has got a lot going for it! Funny, thoughtful, evocative of the times in which I too was growing up, I can't wait to read Haven's newest, and discover who Zippy has become as an adult.

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Jul 28, 2007 Sfdreams rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no animal lovers! but all essay lovers

Shelves: reviewed

Some of the parts involving animals were pretty brutal and hard to get through, for this animal-loving vegetarian.

Otherwise, I found it interesting to read. Haven writes with an interesting style, and she seems to remember how she felt and saw life as a child. I envy that,as I cannot. Her parents seem quirky and likeable. Her mother reads Asimov and sci-fi and her Dad is more like the adults I knew as a child. Haven seems to have a special relationship with her Dad that I enjoyed reading about....more

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Feb 29, 2008 Tammra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, biography, own, nonfiction, r-e-a-d-book-group

This was a fun biography for me to read because Haven Kimmel was born in 1965 and grew up with many of the same experiences and expressions that I did. She grew up in a small town called Mooreland, Indiana where people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday and kept barnyard animals in their backyard - just like the town I grew up in. Haven was nicknamed "Zippy" because of how quickly she would zip around when she was little. She was especially recognized for her huge eyes and big ears...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir, might-pee-my-pants

I read this book at night in bed. More than once my husband has given me the "how in the name of all that is holy have I ended up married to a woman this unstable?" look as I hooted and laughed while I read Zippy's story. High-larious.

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Mar 13, 2009 J.M. Blevins rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Memoirs, especially of people who aren't famous for anything, and even more especially by young first authors, usually suck. Too much excitement about nothing interesting, mostly. It's hard to make it through unless you have some forceful reason to finish, like you know the person or you have a very similar experience.

This is the exception. I can't figure out why, just yet. The author is young, not unusual, first-time writer, yet this just glows. I picked it up because I needed something quick t...more

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Jan 16, 2009 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-autobiography-or-memoir, bookcrossing

Picked this up a while back at the Goodwill to release. Glad I actually did read it first, and didn't let barren shelves at the OBCZ frighten me. Someone stepped to the plate and filled the shelf, and I got to read a quirky memoir.

I somehow missed all the hype when it came out, so had no expectations for the book. Instead, Zippy was able to tell her tale, presenting her life in a way that anyone who ever was an inquisitive, mischievous child can at once recognize.

I didn't live in Mooreland, nor...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Frank Anthony Polito rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Last night I finished reading a lovely little memoir from 2001: A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. My good friend "Kenneth in the 212" forced it on -- loaned it to -- me a while back, and I admit that I was reluctant to dive right in. Not sure why.

Actually, I know the reason. "Who the hell is Haven Kimmel?!" I said to myself. Yes, I shamefully buy into the "only celebrities can write memoirs!" thinking that a lot of people have... Or am I the only one who believes this?

The book's subtitle is "G...more

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Nov 29, 2012 David P rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, memoir

This is a story of growing up in Mooreland, a town of 300 in eastern Indiana, center to farms and home to some industrial workers. Who would care to read about Mooreland? At most, the author's sister Melinda felt,

" a person lying in a hospital bed with no television and no roommate. And then here comes a candy striper with a squeaky library cart and on that cart is only one book--or maybe two books, yours and Cooking with Pork."
Give that lady this book and brighten up her gloomy day; but not...more This is a story of growing up in Mooreland, a town of 300 in eastern Indiana, center to farms and home to some industrial workers. Who would care to read about Mooreland? At most, the author's sister Melinda felt,

" a person lying in a hospital bed with no television and no roommate. And then here comes a candy striper with a squeaky library cart and on that cart is only one book--or maybe two books, yours and Cooking with Pork."
Give that lady this book and brighten up her gloomy day; but not if she's recovering from abdominal surgery, or she will bust every stitch in her body laughing. This Mooreland is a funny, sunny place, the Lake Wobegon of Indiana, especially when viewed by a little girl with an eye for the weird aspects of life.

It is is a story of the 1970s, in a working class family, far from any big city. Loving parents with a wry sense of humor, an elder sister with a gift for sarcasm, girlish jealousies and on-off friendships, old (and odd) neighbors for whom washing was an option, church services which were never optional and a mentally handicapped cat named PeeDink:

"While we were talking PeeDink had climbed up a pine tree next to Edythe's house and was walking around on her roof. We watched helplessly as he jumped on her chimney and looked curiously inside, then took one step too many and went straight down. Vanished.
"Ooh, I can't watch" I said, pulling my knees up in front of my eyes.

"On the count of three--ready? One. Two. And three!"

And PeeDink came sailing out of Edythe's front door. He did a little somersault, then stood up and shook himself off, as he had done the last six times he had fallen down her chimney. He was sooty and a little crooked, but my cat, alive, all the same.

Dad stood up. "I'll go get a towel."

It's that kind of a book. Now and then you may stop and wonder--do such things really happen, or is this just a story dreamed up by an overactive imagination? For one moment you are unsure, and then you stop and tell yourself--"naah, no one could ever invent such stuff!" Whatever it is, you will love it. (less)

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Feb 25, 2012 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's one of those books that you just sit back and totally enjoy. Why? Perhaps it's the truth among the pages that makes you laugh, or the stories that you wished you could have been a part of or the adventures that Zippy writes about that leave you with the "Really, that actually happened?" feeling. Nevertheless, this memoir will leave you smiling and give you a new perspective on life when you are finished. Growing up in the late 60’s and 70’s Zippy writes from a child’s perspective and it is...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Susan Daly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dear Goodreads Group,

Yes, your correct in thinking that I give almost every book I read five (5) stars, and this one is no acception. The reason for them almost always getting five (5) stars is because I only read for pleasure, and/or edification, which is also pleasing for me!

Therefore; if I begin reading a book, and by the 2nd or 3rd chapter I am not taken away with it, then it goes into the give away pile, never to be thought of again.

I found this author so honest, and trusting of her readers...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I did not like it at first because I thought the language was a little crude. I wasn't going to finish it, but it was a RS Book Club selection. However, I did like some of the later chapters. The writing seemed a little disjointed. Again, I thought some of the later chapters had more continuity and were better written. I so enjoyed "The Glass Castle" that it is hard to read a memoir which is written through the eyes of a child without comparing. There didn't seem to be a point to many of the ref...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Arika rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who loves to laugh and/or reminisce memories.

"A Girl Named Zippy offers a rare and welcome treat: a memoir of a happy childhood."

I am not a big reader... at all, so for me to say the following a rare occurrence. This book was actually assigned to me by my creative writing teacher for a memoir project we were working on. I was not looking forward to reading it, but once I started, I couldn't stop. This book is a wonderful, fast, and easy read. The beginning starts out describing the town Zippy lived in, her childhood, and how she was give...more

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Nov 17, 2010 Annika rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of all, my entire life I've known that Mooreland, Indiana exists. It is a very small town, a dot on a map in east central Indiana, and my dad's old stomping grounds. He is a Hoosier through and through, and Mooreland is the center of his web of tales involving his own childhood and growing up in a small Indiana town (John Cougar Mellencamp has nothing on my dad's stories ;)

So I'm at a family reunion and all weekend I'm hearing snippets of "that book". "That book" turns out to be Haven Kimm...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Didn't you feel that rabbit biting you?"
"I reckon I was hypnotized."
Dad looked at mom, stricken. "She thinks she was hypnotized by a rabbit."

"Mom, mom, mom. Hey. Mom."

One of Sissy's front teeth always pointed north... I wanted to see what the relationship would be between her tooth and that bread and butter...Sissy leaned close to me. Her tooth arrived first.

"I'll tell you the Less Fortunate Child I'm going to donate my bike to, she's sitting right here on the couch with you, so don't even star...more

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About Haven Kimmel

Haven Kimmel was born in New Castle, Indiana, and was raised in Mooreland, Indiana, the focus of her bestselling memoir, A Girl Named Zippy: Growing up Small in Mooreland, Indiana .

Kimmel earned her undergraduate degree in English and creative writing from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and a graduate degree from North Carolina State University, where she studied with novelist Lee Smith....more

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“I later discovered that in order to be a good athlete one must care intensely what is happening with a ball, even if one doesn't have possession of it. This was ultimately my failure: my inability to work up a passion for the location of balls.” — 51 people liked it

“That cat doesn't have a lick of sense,' I said, sighing.

Well, honey, he's not right in the head,' Dad said, flipping his cigarette into the front yard.

I glared at him. 'And just what do you mean by that?'

Dad counted on his fingers. 'He's cross-eyed; he jumps out of trees after birds and then doesn't land on his feet; he sleeps with his head smashed up against the wall, and the tip of his tail is crooked.'

Oh yeah? Well, how about this: he once got locked in a basement by evil Petey Scroggs in the middle of January and survived on snow and little frozen mice. When I'm cold at night he sleeps right on my face. Of that whole litter of kittens he came out of he's the only one left. One of his brothers didn't even have a butthole.'

I stand corrected. PeeDink is a survivor.” — 48 people liked it

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A Girl Named Zippy (Zippy #1)

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