This book, by Haven Kimmel, is so great. I just finished reading it for the second time, and I feel like I could immediately start all over again on page one. A truly original and wonderful memoir.
Here's Zippy encountering poetry for the first time:
Mrs. Denver made us memorize and recite poetry, another thing I'd never experienced. The first poem I chose was Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," and when I stood up to recite it I got through it marvelously, right up until the last line, "and miles to go before I sleep," repeats itself, and then I got intensely moved and just had to stand there with my throat aching while thirty-seven unsympathetic eyes stared at me. Finally I just ran over to my desk and put my head down, and Mrs. Denver walked over behind my desk and put her hand on my shoulder. The rest of the room stayed blisteringly silent.
"Why does he do that?" I asked in a tight, mad voice, meaning why does he repeat the last line in that devilish way?
Here's Zippy encountering chopped liver for the first time:
One crystal bowl held a gray paste that Rose swore to me was made of goose liver; she would not deny it even after I hit her for lying. For the rest of the evening I walked around giving myself the hookey-spooks by repeating the phrase "goose liver, goose liver, goose liver."
I want to go back in time and live in Mooreland, Indiana, and live on the same block as Zippy.
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