Yay for Zippy!

I love Zippy. I read it once before about five years ago- my Mom recommended it to me after her book club read it. That is why I recommended it for us. I had forgotten how truly wonderful it is. It was great fun to read again and rediscover Zippy. I also read the sequel so hopefully I will not get the two confused. The first is the best but the second still has the same flair.

It was interesting to read two memoirs in a row both wonderful in their own way. I was annoyed with Mike Ramsdell for jumping around the timeline in his story because I felt like he was covering something up. With Zippy it didn't bother me- she told the stories that connected to a theme for each chapter and she generally got older as the book went along but she definitely skipped around the timeline. I think that added to the ending feeling abrupt. But I think maybe she didn't want an ending. She wanted to leave us with a feeling of continuation- a feeling of future stories. This book was just a snippet - one facet in the kaleidoscope. I am amazed at how this book hangs together with no obvious direction. It is a memoir told from her young eyes and not her current eyes.

I love how innocent and oblivious she is. I love how active she is. I love her opinion of herself and of her family. I love that the whole town raised her since her parents couldn't. I think her relationship with her father is interesting because it is obviously not the norm for his relationships. He was a different Father to her than he was to her other siblings. She takes this for granted. He is a good father to her- I love it when he tells her to go away because he is frustrated with the car he is working on and is going to start swearing soon. There is something so sweet in that moment- so respectful of her and who she is and so representative of their relationship. He is imperfect and they both know it and accept it. There are boundaries to what she gets to see and what she doesn't. It isn't hidden from her but he is a better person when he is with her. I think it is funny how she feels encouraged to be a rebel by him. It makes her His Girl.

I love that she never sees herself as a victim. She describes some terrible conditions for a childhood and yet she remains impervious to them. She doesn't remember suffering because she wore the same pants all year long and the laundry never got done and the house is falling down and has no heat. Her mom was on the couch but that was comforting to her- she always knew where to find her. I can relate to this somewhat because my Mom was always on the couch with a good book while I was growing up too. Not because of depression but because of illness- repeated pneumonia and strep throat and those kinds of illnesses. My Mom was much more responsible for us- she always knew where we were and she kept the house pretty tidy (as tidy as possible with 4 rugrats tearing it apart all of the time). It makes me appreciate my Mom more- knowing now how ill she was and how hard it must have been for her to pick herself up and take care of us. I am impressed with Zippy for her lack of resentment and her innocent oblivion to how bad things must have been.

On of my favorite stories from this book is the one where she protects Rose from the band teacher. Rose didn't even tell her what was wrong- just that something was wrong and her Mom didn't believe her. Zippy figures it out sort of by thinking of the band teacher. She doesn't really understand but she knows that it can't continue. She uses her stubborn personality and protects her friend by staying and walking home with her everyday. She could have been putting herself in potential danger too but instead she bullies the band teacher. It's great! And she doesn't even quite realize what she has done. I also love that she punishes the band teacher for not letting her play drums ("because it is a boy instrument") by making him lug around the bells. I love that she her sense of what's right in the world and the way she follows it and stands up for it. Zippy addresses so many issues that we go through in our youth without making too big a deal out of any of them. And yet they shape her and who she is.

So this is not a very well written review- my thoughts are kind of disorganized today... and everyday... but hopefully it makes enough sense... I wish I could write like Haven...