Book Description
When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana, was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period–people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards.
Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds Zippy.
Download Description
When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana, was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period -- people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards.
Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds Zippy.
Customer Reviews:
Another lovely Hoosier memoir.......2007-10-14
I am originally from NW Indiana, so Mooreland is too far away from my childhood. But I enjoyed this easy read, the beautiful prose, and how the author wrote from a young girl's perspective.
She loved and adored her family, although her father's gambling and her mother's depression were hardly touched but maybe that is why Kimmel wrote a second book. Depression in the 1960s was stricly a woman's problem and of no concern to men and thus of no value to society.
Zippy was the youngest of three children. Her two older siblings were years older than her. She learned to admire them from a young age.
Smalltown life is wonderfully depicted in this little book. Ignorant farmers, arrogant Californians, mean old ladies lurking behind dark curtains (at least that is from a child's mind) all come to life here.
Because there was no epilogue in the end, the book leaves us wondering what happened to all the characters. Where did Dana go? What happened to Julie? How are her parents now, if they are still around? Did her brother follow ministry? There are so many questions left unanswered.
A Girl Named Zippy.......2007-10-01
Cute and thoughtful. An easy read that makes you remember how things were different way back when.
I liked reading a memoir that was just plain fun.......2007-08-29
I was able to laugh through this memoir..I have since picked up her second memoir and I am saving that for a rainy (or snowy) day when I can kick back and read it all day long-
A bit lacking in zip..........2007-08-07
It seems as though everyone these days feels compelled to write an autobiography, and Kimmel was no exception. Born in 1965 in small-town Indiana, the author recalls her childhood, when she was known as "Zippy" for her talent at racing from place to place.
While some of Kimmel's story is intriguing -- her best friend Julie, strangely mute; her friend Dana, who arrives from L.A. in the second grade, wearing a black leather jacket -- much of her recollections are just run-of-the-mill little-girl recollections. While most of us can relate to lazy summer afternoons, browsing comics at the store or visiting friends, there's usually got to be some compelling reason to want to read about others' experiences doing the same. As far as I could see, there was really no unique "hook," or anything that made me think, "Wow, this person is worthy of a book!"
Don't get me wrong; it's not a BAD book. It's just not likely to stay in your memory for more than a day.
Just What I Needed ...........2007-06-27
I just picked this book up at a rummage sale. Whoever donated it to the sale has my undying gratitude because this book was the sweetest and funniest book I have read in quite some time. I am a fan of memoirs and biographies but this one is so unlike any others that I am now hooked on Kimmel's writings. I want more Zippy!
Like Zippy, who is four years older than I am by the way, I grew up in a small midwestern town but not as small as hers! I would be considered big city girl in comparison! But the midwestern attitude is so familiar that reading this book was like traveling down memory lane for me! She's the youngest in a family of three kids. Her older brother and sister were already in Junior high by the time she arrived. Her mother refers to her lovingly as an "after thought." That is how the book started out (well, almost). Named Haven at birth, her dad decided to call her Zippy since she could never sit still. You can say that her memories of childhood reeked of love, laughter and cigarettes.
Zippy is precocious. Zippy is curious. Zippy is Zippy, a character that you will never forget. My favorite part is the scene where her sister told her that she's adopted. Outraged, she stomps in and asks her mother if that's true. Her mother stops reading for a moment and says, yes, you are. A band of roving gypsies with a pack of wolves that stand up and preach during a full moon came through the area. The whole conversation had me repeating it to my husband as it was so hilarious and something exactly like what my father would spin out to me when I was a child.
I haven't raved about a book in a real long time though I have read lots of really good books ~~ but this book is something I am going to urge my book club to read sometime in the next year. It is something I think we'll enjoy because not only is it funny and engaging, but it talks about a childhood that is now lost in the mists of time. Building your own bike? Who does that anymore? There are many instances in this book that I remember doing as a kid or have heard my parents do when they were kids. I know that Christmas is more different today than it was in the early 70s. It seems to be a simpler time back then even though it was harder especially after the Vietnam War ended. It was a time of change but Zippy had a happy childhood and those memories are funny and bittersweet.
This book comes highly recommended. If you need a laugh, this book is a good place to get one! It is just a really good read and perfect for a summer read!
6-28-07
Book Description
In this hypnotic, magically
real debut novel, a tiny young
woman from the heart of the
Midwest overcomes an abusive
childhood by following her
mysterious and beautiful
mentor's footsteps to become
a circus trapeze artist.
Customer Reviews:
Great Idea, Clumsy Execution.......2007-05-02
This story has all the elements of a great, epic tale. Unfortunately, it reads like a quick outline of this epic story. The characters are rushed through life and we barely get a chance to really care about any of them. Even Tessa's four years with Mary, something that defines the rest of her life, are a blur. The ending is about 1/4 of the length and depth that it should rightfully be. I can't help but feel like this story would have been better handled by a more seasoned writer. There were too many holes and rushed stories that I would have liked to see fleshed out.
fine early twentieth century character study.......2007-03-06
In Oakley, Kansas, tiny twelve years old Tessa Riley is so small she is unable to help her parents or her three normal siblings with the farm. In fact her mother insists that Tessa do one job, stretching exercises so that she would grow to a normal size and no longer be a freak. Tessa feels all alone as everyone in the community and her family following the leads of her abusive father and bible quoting mother treat her like a pathetic sideshow reject.
The new librarian Mary Finn has all the townsfolk hopping as she enchantsthe men with her beauty and the women with envy. Mary especially takes a liking to diminutive Tessa telling her tales from her days as the flying Marionetta with the Velasquez Circus. She teaches the child to read and tells her enchanting tales about the residents of Rain Village. Tessa uses the stories to hide her hurt from the scorn of all (except Mary who encourages her) and the sexual assaults of her father. When Mary apparently commits suicide, a distraught now sixteen years old Tessa flees to Kansas City where she joins the circus and marries flyer Mauro Ramirez until her late mentor's nephew Costas arrives and tells her he is going to Rain Village.
Though the ending is unwisely rushed, RAIN VILLAGE has a Brigadoon like feel to the wonderful historical tale. Tessa may be short, but she holds the coming of age tale together as she is a fully developed character whether she is preadolescent, teenager, or adult. Mary is more mystical in nature (like her village and the circus) adding to the overall enchantment. Carolyn Turgeon provides a fine early twentieth century character study that brings out a more isolated era.
Harriet Klausner
First novel triumph.......2007-01-30
Ms.Turgeon is quite a storyteller.We were skillfully drawn into the life of smallish Tessa Riley and her experiences in the circus, a world not well known by most, and came away with an insight into the colorful lifestyle of its many players.Ms.Turgeon has clearly researched the subject thoroughly.Because I am sight-impaired, my son read the novel aloud to me over a period of weeks.It is a testimony to its storyline that we couldn't wait to pick it up each time to see what the interesting cast of characters was up to.A copy of the book was donated to our small,local library and is very popular with our friends.We're eager to read what Ms.Turgeon writes next in her young career.
Charming, Ethereal, Palpable, Joy.......2006-12-01
"Rain Village" has a gypsy in its soul, filled with secrets, scents, thrills, chills and suspense, just like every circus should be! The narrator, tiny Tessa Riley, begins to tell her tale of being too small to do chores as a mere girl in a farming family in Kansas and meeting up with Mary Finn, a strange, mystical and almost magical woman that arrived on the scene and would serve as both a mentor and an icon to her.
The story unfolds like a paper flower in water, as the tale of who this woman is, how she is connected to this little girl and what lies ahead for little Tessa in that big world out there is the crux of the story.
The book plays out almost like a grown-up fable, with rich descriptions, evocative phrasing and very real people who just happen to be in a very unique business: the world of the Big Top.
Author Carolyn Turgeon provides a read that's as quick as a human cannonball and as light and lovely as the aerialists she describes. It is a wonderful tale that you'll wish went on at least a little longer.
"Lyrical".......2006-11-05
A novel not about rain or villages so much as it is about a misfit girl and the mysterious librarian/circus performer/aromatic sex siren who rescues her from sullen mediocrity. William Shelden found it "lyrical" and I agree; Tessa's first-person narrative is rich with lush description of both the carnivalesque locales in which she finds herself and the tumult of emotions her journey leads her to endure. The hints of magic-realist hyperbole elevate this survivor's tale, heightening the mystery of what links ambition to tragedy without making the story in the least bit nebulous, encouraging readers to give in already and submit to wonderment.
Book Description
“There could be no doubt left in anyone’s mind that my life had all the makings of a country-and-western song.”
The second of seven children (with another on the way), Hallie Palmer has one dream: to make it to Vegas. Normally blessed with an uncanny gift for winning at games of chance, she’s just hit a losing streak. She’s been kicked out of the casino she frequents during school hours, lost all her money for a car on a bad bet at the track, and has been grounded by her parents. Hallie decides the time as come to cut her losses.
Answering an ad in the local paper, she lands a job as yard person at the elegant home of the sixty-ish Mrs. Olivia Stockton, a wonderfully eccentric rebel who scribes acclaimed poetry along with the occasional soft-core porn story. Under the same wild roof is Olivia’s son, Bernard, an antiques dealer and gourmet cook who turns out mouthwatering cuisine and scathing witticisms, and Gil, Bernard’s lover, whose down-to-earth sensibilities provide a perfect foil to the Stocktons’ outrageous joie de vivre. Here, in this anything-goes household, Hallie has found a new family. And she’s about to receive the education of her life.
From a wonderful new voice in fiction comes the freshest and funniest novel to barrel down the pike since Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. In Beginner’s Luck, Laura Pedersen introduces us to the endearing oddballs and eccentrics of Cosgrove County, Ohio, who burst to life and steal our hearts–and none more so than Hallie Palmer, sixteen, savvy, and wise beyond her years, a young woman who knows life is a gamble . . . and sometimes you have to bet the house.
Customer Reviews:
CHARMING FIRST NOVEL SPAWNS GREAT SERIES.......2006-08-10
I enjoyed BEGINNER'S LUCK for it's delightful characters and clever dialogue. Most of all I loved the depiction of the American Midwest as a place where a lot has changed with the advent of technology, collapse of the family farm, and so many industries that provided jobs to Rust Belt city dwellers, but where life still hums away with the changing of each season and most people are friendly, proud, and involved in their communities. There was a time when, if you lived in the heartland, you really had to be neighborly because disaster could strike -- fire, flood, illness -- and it was the people who lived nearest who were going to rescue you (or not). But even with the advent of good fire departments, hospitals, and police, I find that this sensibility of helping others and spirit of generosity still prevails, if you turn off the ratings grabbing-fear instilling evening news and wander over to the baseball diamond, church potluck, synagogue, local theater group, etc.
BEGINNER'S LUCK displays the sharp-edged humor, quick dialogue, and modern social issues that anchor it as a 21st century novel more than one of the 19th or 20th centuries, but there is still something beautifully timeless in the action and people that harkens back to everything good about an earlier America. Main character Hallie Palmer continues to return home for more adventures with this entertaining cast of characters in HEART'S DESIRE and THE BIG SHUFFLE, and now the question is -- will she settle down in her hometown after college or move on to "bigger things." However, Pedersen has set things up nicely in that if Hallie does move away, she'll be taking all the best of growing up with her, and if she decides to stay, well, who wouldn't?
We should all be so lucky to find a home like this!.......2006-01-15
This has to be the best book I read in 2005! The characters are endearingly funny and Hallie is a child to be admired. The Stockton household is one any child would be thrilled to inhabit. For a side dish, we get history lessons, literature classes and plenty of social conscience raising. The rich descriptions of Olivia, Bernard and even Rocky make us want to spend a summer with this family; even if we have to weed the garden!
Quickwitted sarcastic humor .......2005-12-24
Hallie is a 16 year-old girl who despises the school that she goes to so much that she doesn't bother to show up to 90% of the classes. Most of the time you can find her down at the horse track betting on the ponies, aka earning money to buy a car. Since she lives in a house barely big enough to house the nine that it consists of now, not to mention the new baby on the way, she plans to head to Las Vegas. She is the second oldest and is overlooked up until now,when the attendence officer "Just Call Me Dick" begins to notice that she doesn't come to homeroom, or most of her other classes for that matter. He alerts the ultimate authorities; her parents. They simply retract their offer to help pay for the car and ground her until her grades pull up. Hallie thinks, "Well that's too bad because I'm gone, I'll gamble until I have the money to go to Vegas then, so long Ohio!" Hallie is a gifted card player that goes along with her innate sense of numbers. She doesn't have a gambling problem just does it for the money. An unfortunate loss at the track forces her to take a job as a lawn person in the eccentric household of the Stocktons. This quirky family includes Olivia, the head matron, The Judge her husband, Bernard their son, Gil Bernard's lover, and the ever persistent Rocky the chimp, who is between jobs. Not only are they paying her 12 dollars an hour they soon welcome her into their home with her own room. Her parents want her back but no such luck, she becomes a permanent fixture in the lives of the Stocktons. She is now learning things that she would not otherwise learn, like how to prepare exqusite dishes, little known facts about authors and figure heads. The sarcastic humor, intermixed with exquisite vocabulary, envelope her in Ms. Olivia's rabble rousing and protesting for a greater cause. Olivia soon becomes her tutor that way she will graduate and be able to go to college. Her boyfriend, Craig, even gets along with the Stocktons. This leads to a pinch or romance among all the gambling and clearing of her name. A household that will not be forgotten easily.
Slowly but surely, a quickwitted sarcastic humor takes you into this quirky world of Hallie Palmer. This hold is not relinquished throughout the entire novel. I laughed so hard I cried multiple times. The reader is faced with a gay couple that Hallie coexists with and not all romantic scenes are backstage. For those with improving vocabulary, I suggest a pocket dictionary nearby, just in case. Morals and prejudiced thoughts are faced and delt with making you think about your own beliefs.This book is for those willing to be open-minded to other's thoughts and ideas even though you may have originally rejected them as not part of your beliefs. Not everything is black and white as it might appear, and there are two sides to each argument. It helps to see both.
Reviewed by a student reviewer for Flamingnet Book Reviews
www.flamingnet.com
Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations
A fast, fun read........2005-10-18
I liked this book. It took me a while to get used to Hallie's (the main character) lifestyle, but eventually I got into the swing. The Stockton family was just endlessly entertaining, and I thought the author did a terrific job of writing in the voice of a teenaged girl (though I haven't been one myself in almost 15 years, so I might not be the best judge).
I look forward to reading more by this author.
BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE for an older teenage audience.......2005-10-01
I started BEGINNER'S LUCK with some skepticism: I wasn't sure of the target audience for a small-town coming-of-age story about a 16-year-old high school dropout, runaway, semi-professional gambler/math genius.
How could the main character, Hallie (as in the Comet) Palmer be a good role model for impressionable teenage readers? And for older readers, what would be the compelling interest, having experienced adolescent angst and 'been there, done that' to one extent or another? (Although I'm not sure how many of us were teenage gamblers?)
By the end of Chapter 1, you'll be engaged by Laura Pedersen's straightforward, funny, clever writing style and turns-of-phrase, many having some allusion to poker or gambling, as do all the chapter titles.
By the end of Chapter 3, you'll be drawn in by Hallie herself, the first person narrator, who, in spite of her growing reputation as "the town miscreant" for various misadventures, turns out to be a very intelligent, deep-thinking, somewhat confused teenager. Not so much a hardened criminal as a hard worker with a good heart. Not so much a juvenile delinquent, at least in attitude or intent, as a typical teenager--impatient, naïve, self-conscious, and conflicted about everything: school, family, boys, sex, growing up and finding her place in the world.
By the end of Chapter 7, when the remainder of the cast of colorful characters is introduced, you'll be hooked into the wonderful world of Hallie Palmer.
The first book of a projected four-book series, in BEGINNER'S LUCK, we get to know Hallie as she drops out of high school, runs away from home (with six brothers and sisters, and more on the way, who could blame her?!), and finds refuge and the space to sort everything out as a live-in yard person in the truly out-of-the-ordinary Stockton home.
Life is never dull with Bernard Stockton, a flamboyant (yes, that's right, read: GAY) antiques dealer; his equally-charming, long-term boyfriend, Gil; his gracefully aging, revolutionary, free-spirited mother, Olivia; his father, the Judge, an ailing Alzheimer's patient; and an alcoholic Chimpanzee named Rocky. Eclectic, yes. Eccentric, definitely. These characters will make you wish for small town innocence (as claustrophobic as it can be), and long for the nostalgia that people and places like this might actually exist.
With such a colorful backdrop of characters, the plot is just as original, as Hallie matures and finds her way, even graduating from high school under the private tutelage of Olivia Stockton. She even kind of resolves the age-old Sex issue with her boyfriend, who is pressuring her, with a surprisingly explicit few pages toward the end of the book--explicit, yet very genuine, and she remains a virgin, which is a refreshing, intelligent choice in teenage literature. Congratulations to Laura Pedersen for handling this sensitive issue so well.
I look forward to continuing to read about Hallie's adventures, and this is a book I would love to have my someday-a-teenager daughter read, when she's ready for teenage issues.
Sherri Caldwell, co-author, The Rebel Housewife Rules: To Heck With Domestic Bliss!
Average customer rating:
- This book had some cool superises
- PAGEANT:MIDWEST GIRLS
- Really really good!
- I couldn't put it down!
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Pageant #2: midwest girls (Pageant)
Cherie Bennett
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
| Baby-3
| Ages 4-8
| Ages 9-12
| Audiobooks
| Animals
| Arts & Music
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Computers
| Educational
| History & Historical Fiction
| Issues
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| People & Places
| Popular Characters
| Reference & Nonfiction
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Pageant
| Series
| Teens
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General
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| Subjects
| Books
Being a Teen
| Social Issues
| Teens
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| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
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Pageant 6: The Winners on the Road (Pageant)
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Pageant #3: north east girls (Pageant)
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Pageant #1: southern girls (Pageant)
-
Pageant 5: The National Pageant
ASIN: 0425163784 |
Book Description
The competition continues as Midwest girls Molly, Sarah, Shylo and Pepper follow their dreams, face their fears, and find friendship and romance--while working to win the coveted crown of Miss Teen Spirit.
Customer Reviews:
This book had some cool superises.......1999-10-04
I was amazed when I found out what was going on with Pepper, but it was cool because that really happens and people could realate to it.If you want to find out what is going on with Pepper you have to read the book.
PAGEANT:MIDWEST GIRLS.......1998-09-20
I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK.ALLISON GAYLORD A.K.A THE VIRUS CREATED HAVOC.I WAS HAPPY TO SEE ALLISON SCAMED AT HER OWN TRICK.I HOPE THINGS WORK OUT FOR MOLLY,HER SWEET DAD,AND HER OVERPROTECTIVE MOM.I ALSO WONDER IF THINGS WILL ACTUALLY WORK OUT WITH DEAN AND KATIE FROM THE SOUTHERN PAGEANT.AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST WHO WILL WIN THE NATIONAL PAGEANT?
Really really good!.......1998-09-08
This book rocks! What is going to happen with Molly, her mom and dad? And what about Justin and Sarah; are they ever gonna be in contact with each other? And Pepper--what's going to happen with her and Matt? Is Shylo going to steal the crown from her half-sister, Shelby? Read it to find out!~
I couldn't put it down!.......1998-07-06
I've read quite a few of Cherie's books, but this series really stands out( along with my favorite series; TRASH). I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to see what happens at the next PAGEANT! I also read the first book in this series, and I just wish that this book told a little bit more about what's happening between Dean and Katie.
Average customer rating:
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Lizzie And the Prairie Fire: Girl Pioneer in the American Midwest (American Frontier Story) (American Frontier Story) (American Frontier Story)
Gail Wood
Manufacturer: White Mane Kids
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
1800s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Historical Fiction
| History & Historical Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Teen Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
1800s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
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General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
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ASIN: 157249381X
Release Date: 2006-09-25 |
Product Description
Living in a sod home in 1892, Lizzie Lipinski craves more excitement from her life on the prairie. But Lizzie gets more than she could possibly want when she comes face to face with a wall of raging flames sweeping the prairie. Can Lizzie find the strength to save her home and family and acquire a new appreciation for her life on the prairie?
Average customer rating:
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Down Home Missouri: When Girls Were Scary and Basketball Was King
Joel M. Vance
Manufacturer: University of Missouri Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Midwest
| Regional U.S.
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Family & Childhood
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
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1945 - Present
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
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Missouri
| State & Local
| United States
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Midwest
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Social History
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Rural
| Sociology
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ASIN: 0826213073 |
Book Description
In this warmly witty account, Joel Vance re-creates what it was like for a city kid to have his life changed almost entirely when he is transplanted from his Chicago birthplace to his father's home country in rural Missouri. He shares his emotions, his dreams, and the realities of his high school days, capturing the essence of the experiences of many who lived in the Midwest at mid-century.
Average customer rating:
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Down on the Farm: Real Life Stories and Photographs by a Minnesota Farm Girl
Jessica Callens
Manufacturer: Morgan James Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
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Memoirs
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Family Health
| Parenting & Families
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General
| Parenting & Families
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ASIN: 1600371507 |
Book Description
A rare experience, a step back in time, a special encounter with reality, a once in a lifetime chance to visit for yourself - Down on the Farm! Callens' Down on the Farm takes you on a fabulous journey through the lush green fields of the Minnesota Heartland, along a dirt road, past the fishing hold and through the orchard to the Callens Farm where an exciting story unfolds every day between the rooster's crow and the setting of the sun! Join in the adventures of the Callens Family through inspiring, gently humorous and touching true stores told with country charm and a farm girl's firsthand experience! You may find yourself hunting down predators, canning vegetables, stuccoing the house, herding muddy hogs, searching for asparagus, doing laundry, hosting a barn dance, butchering chickens or a Christmas goose, teasing the city cousins, milking a cantankerous old cow, attending a rodeo or local auction, but you're guaranteed to have a blast no matter what the country adventure holds! Don't wait another rooster's crow before donning your straw hat and coveralls for the experience of a lifetime where the sun makes his bed in a cornfield every evening, where the pavement ends and the prairie begins - Down on the Farm!
Customer Reviews:
Like Being On the Farm!.......2006-12-03
Reading this delightful book made me feel like I was right on the farm with this delightful family. Jessica Callens has a way of writing her stories and making you feel that she is talking directly to you!
Book Description
Fat Girls and Lawn chairs is a collection of humorous short stories and essays about the author's Midwestern childhood and her life as a lesbian woman of size. Whether describing hitting her kid sister in the head with a rock when she was nine ("Actually, given my gift of aim, it was phenomenal shot") or the inevitable conflict with portable furniture ("no self-respecting fat girl ever really trusts a lawn chair") Cheryl deals with the everyday adventures of life with wry humor and a steadfast connection with her inner child. She covers a range of subjects in these articles: playing softball for the first time at the age of 48, learning to swim as a child (and learning the final swimming lesson from her mother as a near-adult,) the mechanics of familial communications, being the oldest child of a family of five, the death of her Great-Grandmother's treasured parakeet.
Download Description
Cheryl Peck has stories to tell-about her cats, about her family, and about what it's like to be a gay woman of size living in the heartland. There's the story of the time she hit her kid sister in the head with a rock. There's the time her father gave her swimming lessons-by throwing her into the water. When she came shrieking and spluttering to the surface, he said, "Good-she can swim." There are the reasons 300 pound Cheryl has become an inspirational goddess in her gym. There are universal stories about a daughter's love for her mother and father. Cheryl Peck unfolds all of these tales with a healthy sense of humor and intelligent wit in a book that reads like fiction and explores the themes of family, growing up, love, and loss. The stories in this collection are about seemingly unremarkable events that make a life#&151;but like fat girls sitting on lawn chairs, these are events that don't let go.
Customer Reviews:
Boooooooooring.......2007-01-04
While this book is not an utter garbage, there's nothing remarkable about it either, at least in my opinion. There's a certain wit and charm to "Fat Girls...", but that in itself doesn't save it from being mediocre. Even though miss Peck says that she's not a professional writer, by any means, it still feels as if though you need be a part of her family in order to enjoy this book. There's no humor in here, despite whatever reviews are saying - its just a number of observations on life, good ones at that, but I was looking for something else.
Bonus points for an excellent books cover.
OMG this book is SO hilarious!.......2006-07-20
Be prepared to be unable to stop laughing! The title story was my favorite, tied with "Litter String" (which is one of several stories written from the POV of Babycakes the cat). I can't wait to read more by this fantastic writer!
One of the worst books I have ever read.......2006-03-27
This book is awful. There is just no excuse for it. This collection of short memoirs are banal, tedious and utterly witless. Peck's only qualifications as a writer is the fact that she is female, over fifty, overweight and gay. Her memoirs are so insipid that finishing this book was incredibly difficult. Reading her memories about her grandparent's cows and how she is unable to pee in the woods made me roll my eyes. When she wrote about her cat, Babycakes, she made it sound as if her cat is ingenious and inovative to do all of these things which cats do naturally (her cat likes string? Really? Wow. . .). I kept waiting for this book to become the fascinating, utterly hilarious, insightful, witty literary achievement that all the other reviews claimed that it was. Needless to say, that never happened. I plan on giving this book to someone that I don't like very much.
Delightful!.......2005-08-26
A humorous, tongue-in-cheek look at life as a "woman of size." Deliciously entertaining!
Love the book cover..........2005-08-10
...and I suppose that's what I get for judging it by its cover. I expected the book to be funny bordering on side-splitting since Peck has been compared to Erma Bombeck. But where Bombeck was hilariously wise and self-deprecating without groveling, it's hard to believe Peck is in her 50s. While reading I kept picturing a kid with a copy of "Increase Your Vocabulary Overnight!" trying too hard to be funny -- her writing is often irritatingly choppy and even worse, contrived.
Apparently the book was originally written just for the amusement of family and friends, and perhaps I am being unfair by virtue of my own high expectations. But more often than not, Peck's stories fall flat into that stale silence immediately following what *you* thought was funny, yet wind up red-faced and mumbling, "Well, guess you had to be there..."
Average customer rating:
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Fran's Story, The 90 Year Journey of a Kansas Farm Girl
Linda, S Thompson
Manufacturer: Planning for Tomorrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
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General
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Midwest
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General
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ASIN: 0976490366 |
Book Description
This is the life story of a very special lady, my mother, as told in her own words. She was many things - a daughter, a sister, wife, mother, cook, gardener, but deep in her heart she thought of herself as a quilter and quilting is woven throughout her story. In 1995 after she and I moved into our new home, I asked her to write her life story. This book is that story. It paints a picture of what life was like for her, starting as a child in the early 1900's to her mid-80's. If you've ever wondered what life was like before indoor plumbing, electricity and a supermarket on every corner, reading Fran's Story will take you there.
Average customer rating:
- Not your typical 'glass ceiling' story.
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Girls Are Coming (Midwest Reflections)
Peggie Carlson
Manufacturer: Minnesota Historical Society Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
African-American & Black
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
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General
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
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General
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Midwest
| Regional U.S.
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Women
| Specific Groups
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General
| Gender Studies
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| Nonfiction
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Midwest
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ASIN: 0873513754 |
Book Description
In 1974, lured by good wages, a 22-year-old African American college student from suburban Minneapolis started work as a pipefitter trainee for Minnegasco, a Minnesota natural-gas utility. Peggie Samples was one of the first four women hired by the company into non-secretarial jobs after the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. On the job, she and her beautiful blond friend Sonny met men who were hostile, men who were helpful, and men who were simply flummoxed to find "girls" in their midst. "S'long as a guy does his job," one told her, "it don't matter ta me if he's a gal."
"Minnegasco was blue.
The walls were blue. The uniforms were blue. The entire vehicle fleet was blue. Where there were curtains, even they were blue. In the interests of conformity, and of my private campaign to look just like everyone else, I bought several blue work shirts.
The Buildings and Grounds Department was responsible for the maintenance and care of Minnegasco properties. Those of us who worked there had very little contact with the public, so we were not obliged to spruce up in fancy uniforms to impress people. Never-theless, there was an unofficial dress code in B&G. It, too, was blue.
So on that day, early in the summer of 1974, when Sonny Kohn strolled into the shop wearing a skimpy electric-yellow halter top, every mouth fell open, including mine. Sonny was very tall and very blond, and gorgeous. Without doubt, she was not familiar with the unofficial dress code. She wasn't even wearing a bra, not that there was an official or unofficial code covering bras, so far."
This memoir is the sometimes hilarious story of how they learned to work together-and what they all learned about stereotypes.
Customer Reviews:
Not your typical 'glass ceiling' story........2001-12-15
Carlson is a wonderful storyteller. Her humorous account of working in a formerly all-male company full of good-ole boy Minnesota Scandinavians provides a wonderful backdrop for a discussion of the history of gender issues in the workplace. "The Girls are Coming" is a piquant slice of American history which precedes the more modern, white-collar lament of the 'glass ceiling'.
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