- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Ebury Press; New edition edition (5 Jun 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0091892406
- ISBN-13: 978-0091892401
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.4 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,398,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'Sly, evocative, gentle, wry and dead-on funny.' Martin Clark 'Parenting experts would gag, but Zippy's parents must have done something right to produce a girl who could write such a simple, lovely book.' USA Today
Martin Clark
‘Sly, evocative, gentle, wry and dead-on funny.’
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First Sentence
If you look at an atlas of the United States, one published around, say, 1940, there is, in the state of Indiana, north of New Castle and east of the Epileptic Village, a small town called Mooreland. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
If you look at an atlas of the United States, one published around, say, 1940, there is, in the state of Indiana, north of New Castle and east of the Epileptic Village, a small town called Mooreland. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel is the story of a young girl (named Zippy because of the way she rushed about the house as a child) growing up in the small American town of Mooreland during the Sixties and Seventies. Each chapter begins with a photograph, which is a delightful reminder that the book is actually a biography and not fiction, and I loved being able to put pictures to the characters introduced in the book.
The book itself could actually be described as "zippy" as it seems to zip from one thing to another, from one time to another. Rather than a criticism, this "zippyness" actually makes the book more appealing because instead of being a run of the mill biography, the book comes across as a sparky series of anecdotes and memories from childhood, seemingly remembered in no particular order.
This is a delightful, light-hearted book. Kimmel's prose captures the mood perfectly, both innocent yet sly, and always quirky. It is a lovely refreshing read and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading childhood memoirs, particularly American ones.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
235 reviews
68 of 71 people found the following review helpful
Utterly beguiling and wonderful. Deeper than it appears
12 Dec 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is proof that each of us has plenty of material in our `ordinary' lives to use as material for writing a memoir. What most of us DON'T have, however, if Haven Kimmel's ability to write so well that what was really a very simple small-town childhood can be elevated to a 280-page book that utterly captivates. Kimmel achieves what many others have attempted to do and failed: she writes entirely from the child's voice without losing her audience, without becoming cloying, without making us want to smack her and say `get on with it.' By turns wickedly witty, humorous, poignant, sweet, heart-wrenching, wise, A Girl Named Zippy is simply one of the best books I've read this year, a poem to a happy childhood.
I resisted it for over a year, fearing it was going to be a sappy, feel-good story. Wrong. It's utterly original, utterly uplifting, utterly hilarious, utterly wonderful. Do NOT fail to read this book.
I resisted it for over a year, fearing it was going to be a sappy, feel-good story. Wrong. It's utterly original, utterly uplifting, utterly hilarious, utterly wonderful. Do NOT fail to read this book.
46 of 48 people found the following review helpful
One of the best memoirs ever...
20 Nov 2002
Format:Paperback
I just read the last page in A Girl Named Zippy, and now I'm at a loss. I want Zippy back! Normally, I'm not a fan of memoirs or non-fiction in general, but I had heard nothing but praise about this book. Thankfully I listened...
Haven Kimmel, or Zippy as she's come to be known due to the fact she used to zip around the house as a toddler, has opened her life to us. The laughter begins on page 2 when Zippy's sister comments on the type of people who would be willing to read a book about life in teeny Mooreland, Indiana. Well, count me in! Reading this book was such pure, emphatic joy. Zippy reminds me a bit of a female Dennis the Menace -- little bit of a pest, but sweet, mostly innocent, and a lot curious. The stories inside are told with a poignant tone, a wistfullness for the days when life was simple, despite how big it all seemed when you were only 3-feet-tall.
A happy childhood -- a breath of fresh air if you ask me. Stories like this make me grateful I grew up in a small town, and that if I thought hard enough I could come up with some stories of my own. A Girl Named Zippy has something for everybody, and a book that I will forever hold in high regard. Wonderful!
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
One of the funniest books I've ever read!
12 Jun 2001
Format:Hardcover
A friend of mine opens to any page of "Bridget Jones' Diary" when she needs a laugh, but I prefer to do this with "A Girl Named Zippy." For anyone who grew up in a small town, Haven Kimmel's hilarious memoir is bound to strike a chord and elicit a grin. The stories of her father maniacally packing their camper to bursting for camping trips, his imaginative tormenting of their dog-hating neighbors, and the young Zippy giving haircuts to hippies in exchange for a dog had me in stitches! Aside from being a gifted storyteller, Haven is also a talented writer; her vivid descriptions and characterizations make this book read like a novel or short story collection. As I read this book, I couldn't help but think that if Scout of "To Kill a Mockingbird" had been a real girl, she would've grown up to write a memoir a lot like "A Girl Named Zippy." For anyone who wants to read a book that will make you laugh out loud and also give you a glimpse of an American life in simpler times--when a vacation either meant going out of town to visit relatives or taking a camping trip with your family--this is the book for you. Thanks for bringing back so many fond memories of my own rural Maryland upbringing, Haven!
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