Zip, Zip Hooray!

I had the great fortune to listen to a Book on CD version of A Girl Named Zippy read by none other than the author herself. Though I am confident I would have laughed and cried as readily as I did had I read the print version, this audio book allowed me to feel somehow closer to the places and people the author described. I can still picture Zippy's mom curled up on the couch with a good book. I see her brother breaking down the bathroom door and slapping his sister. (An act, incidentally, I totally applauded when it happened, though I am a pacifist at heart.) Her father, too, with all those dogs in the front yard.

I began to listen to the book on a flight from Salt Lake to Dallas. I had to put it aside, however, when tears started running down my cheeks after hearing the letter Zippy's mother wrote when she thought her baby girl might die (hope I am remembering this right; it's been a few weeks since I read it). I knew I wouldn't be able to bawl properly on an airplane full of strangers. I also could not properly laugh aloud in a plane: One of the funniest scenes was when Zippy's best friend's mother (did I get that right?) got nailed by that pig running straight toward her and knocking her on her butt (or was it her face?).

Most of the book made me laugh and not cry, I am happy to say. I delighted in the character's matter-of-fact approach to things, her mature yet childlike way of expressing herself. And I really like how her character could have come off sounding really snotty and snobbish (since she was so smart), but I really loved the girl.

I also love hearing stories of the bond between father and daughter. It seemed the two in this book had a nice relationship; I sensed no anger or resentment from Zippy. She alluded a bit to her father's gambling and -- maybe drinking? -- problem but this didn't seem to interfere too much with her adoration of him.

I thought the book ended a bit abruptly. I didn't feel that crescendo before the resolution you get in a great book. Perhaps because there were so many crescendos in all the vignettes. Or perhaps I didn't want the book to end yet. In any case, I look forward to reading more from this author. It was a tidy and fast read with lots of laughter and color.