A heart rending story of the lives of a few inhabitants of a small American town and the massive effect of one very violent death. Langston Braverman has just walked out on her PhD oral exams and returned home to Haddington, Indiana in a fragile emotional state. She retreats to her parents' attic, unsure what to do with the summer or the rest of her life, but with vague plans to write the great American novel. But it's hot, and she is distracted beyond capacity to think by the banality of this small-town home she has returned to, and plunged deep in the trauma of a self-imposed existential dilemma from which not even news of the death of her childhood best friend, Alice, can rouse her. A few houses down Plum Street, Amos Townsend, the local preacher, is suffering from a crippling crisis of faith, wondering how he can continue in the role of spiritual leader of this community. Traumatised by Alice's violent death, guilt-ridden over his inability to prevent it, he feels a responsibility for the welfare of Alice's two suddenly orphaned young girls, altered beyond recognition from the shock of having witnessed the bloody end to their parents' marriage. Langston's mother, meanwhile, has forced her into the role of carer, and the developing relationship between the damaged children, and these two slightly hopeless adults helps all four embark on a process of recovery and redemption that is heartbreakingly poignant and utterly convincing. 'The Solace of Leaving Early' is a remarkable novel -- generous, warm-hearted, smart and ambitious. It is a novel of people and ideas, of family ties, and of how those ties endure for better or worse, of grief and love, of leaving home and returning, of the overwhelming secrets that rest quietly within us. It is so sweet and smart, it's a present.

The Solace of Leaving Early

Literature & Fiction

Kimmel,Haven

Literary

Flamingo

Contemporary

Something Rising : Light and Swift

Free Press

The New York Times bestselling memoir about growing up in small-town Indiana, from the author of The Solace of Leaving Early. 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.

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana

Biographies & Memoirs

Bantam Dell Pub Group

When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965 in 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. To three-year-old Zippy, it made perfect sense to strike a bargain with her father to keep her baby bottle--never mind that when she did, it was the first time she'd ever spoken. In her nonplussed family, Zippy has the perfect supporting cast: her beautiful yet dour brother, Danny, a seeker of the true faith; her sweetly sensible sister, Lindy, who wins the local beauty pageant; her mother, Delonda, who dispenses wisdom from the corner of the couch; and her father, Bob Jarvis, who never met a bet he didn't like. Whether describing a serious case of chicken love, another episode with the evil Edythe across the street, or the night Zippy's dad borrowed thirty-six coon dogs and a raccoon to prove to the complaining neighbors just how quiet his two dogs were, Kimmel treats readers to a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and shy as she navigates the quirky adult world surrounding Zippy.

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana

Regional U.S.

DOUBLEDAY

In her rich and nuanced debut novel, Haven Kimmel brings to life two irresistible people at odds with their small-town lives and with each other. Langston Braverman does not come home to Haddington, Indiana, because she is searching for a simpler life. Having just walked out of her Ph.D. oral exams and abandoned the remains of a disastrous affair, she has retreated to her parents’ attic to nurse a bruised heart and maybe even write a great American novel. It does not escape her attention that the town is abuzz with the death of her childhood friend, Alice, but not even this morsel of intrigue can rouse Langston from her self-imposed existential dilemma. A few houses down Plum Street, Amos Townsend is obsessed with Alice's murder and his inability to stop it from happening. A preacher struggling with his role as a spiritual leader after suffering a profound crisis of faith, he finds comfort in helping Alice's two small girls, who have renamed themselves Immaculata and Epiphany. When the children claim to speak to the Virgin Mary in the backyard tree, Amos and Langston become adversaries in their attempts to protect the girls, failing to recognize that they are on the same side. Told with remarkable wit and sweeping empathy, The Solace of Leaving Early is the story of finding our better selves through accepting the shortcomings of others. With gentle humor, beautiful prose, and a warm empathy for the buried wounds of the human heart, Haven Kimmel has created an unforgettable and wise debut.

The Solace of Leaving Early: A Novel

United States

Kaline Klattermaster's Tree House (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Turtleback

A big, ugly dog is happy to meet a farmer and his wife who decide to give him a name and a home, but not so happy when they chain him to the barn. All Orville can do is bark to tell the world how unhappy he is, and the more he barks, the more he is left alone. But everything changes when Sally MacIntosh moves into the little house across the road and Orville falls in love. A beautifully crafted text that blends wry humor with the poignant twang of a country-and-western song is accompanied by dreamy, spare watercolor-and-ink illustrations for a fresh, original picture book that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt lonely or misunderstood.

Orville: A Dog Story

Children's Books

Animals

Clarion Books

Third-grader Kaline Klattermaster's father has gone somewhere and his mother cannot seem to keep everything straight the way he did, but the two brothers and one hundred dogs that live in his imaginary tree house--and his strange neighbor Mr. Osiris Putnaminski--help him cope with his father's absence, his mother's forgetfulness, and the bullies that torment him in school. 50,000 first printing.

Kaline Klattermaster's Tree House

Activities, Crafts & Games

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

It’s easy to understand why wiggly Kaline Klattermaster wants to squirm away from his life: Already struggling with his inability to sit still or stay quiet, now his dad is gone and his mom won’t say where. To escape the chaotic world of his mother’s reign, Kaline thinks up a perfect hiding place—an imaginary tree house complete with 100 puppies and two older brothers who give him advice. Like Joey Pigza in Jack Ganto’s bestselling novels, Kaline has ADHD, making him all the more relatable to young readers, who will empathize with and cheer for him as Kaline finds the courage to leave the tree and face the real world.

Humor

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