Prologue, Baby Book, Hair Summary and Analysis

"A Girl Named Zippy" is the memoir of Haven Kimmel about coming of age in a small town in Indiana. In the prologue, Kimmel discusses the strange mathematical principle at work in her town, Mooreland, Indiana, where the population stays at 300 people for several decades. Shortly after Kimmel is born, another resident, a barber named Tony is taken away. Kimmel remarks that Mooreland is untouched by the prevailing trends in America during the sixties and seventies. Part of Kimmel's inspiration to write the book is because there has never been a definitive source of information about Mooreland. She also explains that her memoir is a sigh of gratitude—a way to return to a place she no longer lives.

Kimmel summarizes the records her mother took of her baby years in "Baby Book." The...