A Girl Named Zippy

My good friend Lillian informed me a couple months back that this was her favorite book. Ever. I asked about it, and she gave me the description, but then promptly told me not to get my hopes too high because I may not like it as much as she did and she didn’t want me to be disappointed.

Well, Lillian, I finally finished it and while it isn’t my favorite book, I was definitely not disappointed.

The title, A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Moreland, Indiana is a hilarious memoir of a girl in the prime of her childhood in a small, small town. The best characteristic of this book, I think, is the amazing way Kimmel (the author) weaves together the stories using a voice that sounds completely authentic to that of a child. She doesn’t write as if she has years of adult maturation under her belt, rather as if she’s experiencing these years for the first time.

The eccentric cast of characters took me back to my years spent living in small towns. And the book is arranged as a series of essays, so although it took me about a month to read (don’t you hate it when life gets in the way of your reading habit? I do!), I could always pick right up where I left off. If you like memoirs (I love ‘em), this is a winner.

Verdict: A fun read – worth the time.