Hippie Boy: A Girl's Story

by: Ingrid Ricks

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:
What would you do if your Mormon stepfather pinned you down and tried to cast Satan out of you? For thirteen-year-old Ingrid, the answer is simple: RUN.

For years Ingrid has begged her free-wheeling dad to let her join him on the road as a tool-selling vagabond to escape the suffocating poverty and religion at home. When her devout Mormon mother married Earl―a homeless Vietnam vet who exploits the religion’s male-dominated culture to oppress and abuse her family―she finally gets her wish. Ingrid spends the next few summers living on the margins while hustling tools with her dad and his slimy, revolving sales crew. He becomes her lifeline and escape from Earl. But when her dad is arrested, she learns the lesson that will change her life: she can’t look to others to save her; she has to save herself.

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Catchy cover - when I saw it on my Kindle...I had forgotten downloading it. But the cover grabbed me one afternoon when I was bored to tears waiting for my son's bus. And then I couldn't put it down. I wasn't expecting such a great story...and so mild.

For some reason I was expecting a really twisted, out there tale. But it was fairly vanilla. Which is good, I think teens on up can enjoy this book. Even with nothing really terrible happening, it holds your interest. Ingrid is a great story teller. I think that this being a memoir helps. To be fair I thought this was fiction when I read it. I didn't realize it was true until I read the Author Notes at the end.

It's a story about a girl and her Mormon family. Her mom is just about insane about church, while her father (who was raised Mormon) is excommunicated. When her mom remarries, the man is about as appealing as anthrax. He eats nothing but meat, which along with his lack of bathing (I'm assuming) leads to a very, very bad smell. Plus he's a leach, a jerk and just generally creepy.

My heart breaks for her because, really, neither parent treats her like she is worth much. Her dad is her hero, and she loves spending her summers traveling around with him. During the school year she lives with her mom and her stinky step-dad, plus 2 sisters (1 older and 1 younger) and 2 younger brothers. The timeline goes from when she is 9 yrs old until 17, and it really is a coming of age tale.

It's not free anymore, but it's only $1.99 for the Kindle - not bad, right? Ingrid Ricks does a great job weaving this tale of her childhood/teenage years.