Rating: 
Summary: Terrific Memoir from a Real Talent!
Review: I couldn't wait to read more of Haven Kimmel's work after I devoured "The Solace of Leaving Early" and I was thrilled to find "A Girl Named Zippy" to be just as enjoyable. Ms. Kimmel is a talent to keep an eye on.
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Summary: Finally - A Happy Childhood
Review: I have just started reading this book and I love it. I am very happy that it was chosen as a Today Book Club book becuase I would have otherwise never found it. I look forward to more by Kimmel.
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Summary: Zippy - I Love You and Your Motley Family!
Review: No doubt about it - I have never read a funnier book, ever, in 47 years of much reading. I laughed when I read it the first time, laughed again when I read it again, and laughed yet again when I went back through the book to mark passages for my best friend. My husband was in the other room and came to check on me - he thought I was choking. This book also inspired me to try to somehow put my life experiences on paper - "just do it". A wonderful book, a wonderful author, I've even talked with the author herself via e-mail. If I ever find a funnier book, I will read it with an oxygen mask nearby.
Rating:
Summary: A different sort of depth
Review: I won't bother to repeat the many raves; in short, they're all true. But I'd like to respond to the occasional review complaining that the book isn't profound -- for example, that Zippy is too self-absorbed to care much about questions of religious faith or unbelief. I'm afraid that the problem lies in those reviewers themselves, who evidently are used to having Deep Thoughts whack them painfully on the noggin. Haven Kimmel is not for them, because she chooses to treat such questions with wit, irony, a light touch. As for faith vs. unbelief in particular, I'm tempted to say that it's THE theme of this autobiography. There's plenty here to reflect on, if you read well. Which isn't hard, because it's so darned pleasant. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Growing Up in the Midwest
Review: This was the first time I read a memoir written by someone my own age, and it definitely evoked a great number of memories! This is a very enjoyable read, and a definite must read for anyone growing up in the Midwest in the 70s/early 80s. Zippy is nicknamed thusly because of her rapid speed as a small child! She is the youngest of three children, with a span of about 9 years between her sister and herself. In the course of the memoir, Zippy describes her small town, the crabby owner of the corner drugstore, the mean lady down the street, her mother's book addiction, her father's "creative" employment, attachments to various animals, her unpopularity with her teachers, and her brother and sister's feuding. A central theme throughout the book is Zippy's pre-occupation with her faith. Raised a Quaker, Zippy spends a good deal of time trying to figure out how and what to believe. The various excuses she uses to try to get out of going to church are very funny! An insightful book, more than just a vehicle for laughter. It is insightful and full of wisdom as well.
Rating: 
Summary: A Definite Disappointment
Review: I was told about the humor and small-town warmth of this book. Since I grew up in rural Iowa and have a good grounding in the life and events in small towns, I was eager to enjoy it. However,on reading it, I was amazed by the glowing reader and critical evaluations. I read it again to be sure that I had been fair in my critique and was even more surprised at the statements about the warmth and humor. I found the book sad with an undercurrent of bitterness. Here was a dysfunctional family with a father who drank too much, gambled away his wife's engagement and wedding rings and evidently keeps his family in a state of poverty and a mother who appears chronically depressed and traumatizes a little girl by seriously telling her that she was not theirs but gotten from the gypsies. The child herself was resilient and is obviously able to laugh at the events and trials of her childhood, but I found them sad rather than funny. The book was depressing, with very little true humor; and I finished it with a feeling of sadness.
Rating:
Summary: A Delightful-Humorous Read!
Review: This book of the precocious "Zippy," made me laugh out loud many times. Yet there were also places that were sad too in her story.
Haven Kimmel was nicknamed Zippy for the way she would bolt around the house.
My favorite part was in how she would always annoy her school teachers as she was always into everyone's business,especially the adults.
Zippy was the youngest of three children, and growing up in Mooreland Indiana. Back then, everyone went to church on Sunday and life in those times of the 60's was more simple then.
This book is sure to entertain anyone who enjoys watching a precocious child grow up and try to discover the adult world around them!
Rating: 
Summary: Am I missing something? I didn't see much humor here...
Review: My aunt and mother asked me to read this to see what I thought. It was billed as a thoughtful, hilarious memoir of a girl growing up in a small mid-western town. Sounded good to me. However, what I found were a few chuckles, some very good writing, but mostly I was taken with the sadness of her story. Her father gambled away her mother's wedding rings. Her mother was depressed and spent all her time reading sci-fi and convincing her she was adopted (cruel). Her neighbors were creeps that threatened to kill her pets. Her friend and her mother had to flee in the middle of the night from an abusive husband and father. Graphic detail of animals being killed, butchered, dying and rotting under houses, etc. All I know is that if this is what people are describing as a funny, heartwarming childhood memoir, I'm sorry for us all. It was nicely written and I'd love to see her try again, but this just wasn't my cup of tea.
Rating:
Summary: Zippy -do-da, what a beautiful book!
Review: "Zippy" is a gem! I'd give it 20 stars!! Nicknamed for her propensity to "zip" around the house, Zippy gives us a childs look into an adult world. In this charming memoir, you meet her parents who very clevery keep up with their rambunctious doughter, siblings who tell her she was adopted, and friends who pick on her, pinch her, and love her. Zippy has a unique fondness for staying dirty, getting SPITTING mad, visiting the emergency room, and picking her scabs, which are described in such a way that you find these habits to be delightful and cute. Each chapter has such funny moments, that you can't help but laugh out loud and fall in love with Zippy after each page. This book is a fresh glimpse into a simple but incredibly complex town in Indiana back in the 1960's.
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Summary: I laughed... I cried... it was better than "CATS" (really!)
Review: I have to admit--I only bought this book because a stranger said that my 9-month old baby looked just like the main character in a book about some girl named "Zippy." I fruitlessly scoured the children's books section (I assumed it was a baby book). But it was fate: days later, looking for an entirely different book to pass the time in LAX, I spotted "A Girl Named Zippy" and snatched it right up. (He was wrong; my daughter is MUCH cuter, but then I'm a little biased.) Imagine my surprise to discover the book that I bought almost at random turns out to be one of the funniest books I've read in years. Like another reviewer, I was laughing out loud on the airplane causing stares from my neighbor passengers. These are more than just memoirs of a small-town childhood; they are stories of ourselves. I think just about everyone can relate to the timeless characters in this book--be it an older sibling, a beloved pet, a school bully, or the "evil" old widow that lives across the street. The genius of Kimmel's writing is that she makes the everyday experiences of childhood and small-town life at once poignant, funny, innocent, and true. This is a book that is wonderful read out loud... because once you've read it, you'll want to share it with others. There are so many wonderful quotes, like her mother's plea: "Dear God, please give her some hair" and of course, Zippy's famous first words at age 3 (I won't spoil it for you; you'll have to read the first chapter to find out). You'll laugh... you'll cry... well, you know the rest.
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