I love memoirs! This is the sequel to a girl named zippy, a book i vaguely remember reading years ago, but not the specifics. I rated it 4 stars, but that was before i started writing reviews. this was a likewise great book, taking her from ages 8 to 13 or so I believe. Zippy (nickname for Haven) lived in a small town, so small there were only a few hundred people in it, in Indiana, in a house that often had no running water or heat, but really it did have heat, because they had a woodstove, and that's how i grew up with my house heated. anyway, they were poor. she is raised by her friends parents and sister, and her parents when they remembered. Her mom spent her whole time reading and watching tv on the couch, until one day, after 20 years, she got up, changed her whole life, went to college, and became a teacher. But the book's not only about that, it's about her whole life, normal things like playing with friends, her nephew and niece being born, etc. this took place in the 1970s. i love haven and her mom, and her sister!! in the afterward, i saw that she is still friends with her best friends since childhood that feature in this book. she's also good friends with augusten burroughs, another awesome memoir writer. i really hope she writes another, to take it from where it left off to adulthood, and to current. her writing style is so easy to read. in the meantime, i guess i'll check out her fiction. i'd also love to read those short stories her mom wrote for her graduate work, they sound so good and disturbing.