A Girl Named Zippy

Haven Kimmel is a young girl growing up in a small town in Indiana. She's nicknamed Zippy at  a young age because of how quickly she ran around the house and is lovingly called "Zip" by her father.

What's most interesting about this book is the responses I've been getting from adults that notice what I'm reading. Many say they can relate their own childhood to Zippy's life and comment on the nostalgia the book provides them with. Between the time period and the setting in rural Indiana, it's giving me an interesting perspective because I'm trying to imagine my teachers and friends' parents as Zippy's neighbor and schoolmate going through the same things she's going through.

Something I didn't expect out of this book is the amount of death that is recounted. Zippy recalls the death of a man in town as any other child would. She explains the surprise she feels and how a little girl related to the man reacts when she brings it up-- Zippy gets a swift punch to the arm. She doesn't let the punch bother her though.  Besides the death of humans, Zippy explains, in detail, the death of eight rabbits and a chicken. Avoiding going to church, she hides behind a tree and watches her neighbor lovingly feed her chickens, when, at random, her neighbor picks one up and swings it around, instantly breaking its neck. Later, from the same spot, she watches two boys who moved in to the woman's house staple one rabbit after another to a wall and then chop their heads off, laughing about the headless bodies that hop around after hitting the ground. Her dad catches her watching both times, but gets mad at the boys the second time, intimidating them and making them apologize. The only response Zippy gets is to go wash her hands.

 Zippy has an older brother and an older sister and often comments on her relationship with them and their relationship apart from her. In one situation, Zip's older brother gets mad at her sister Melinda and rips the bathroom door off the hinges because he's going to be late for the bus. In a more personal situation, Zip's sister is running for the queen of the town fair at "a penny a vote," and Zippy wants her sister to win so badly that she gives her entire life savings-- $1.61-- to the cause. At the crowning ceremonies, she even wears a dress in hopes of making her sister look good. Melinda gets first runner-up and Zippy feels crushed, though Melinda is later crowned the winner after the original winner admits she's 3 months pregnant and is getting married in two weeks. I only have one older brother, but I spent a lot of time around my many (MANY) cousins and step-cousins and a young child. My brother and I never fought much because we had separate areas in the house and didn't spent too much time together, but the way Zippy's siblings act reminds me of the way my cousins both fought and supported each other. Ultimately we love each other, we just have differing opinions sometimes.