Izzy, Willy-Nilly

by Cynthia Voigt

Overview

One moment can change a life forever.
Fifteen-year-old Izzy has it all — a loving family, terrific friends, a place on the cheerleading squad. But her comfortable world crumbles when a date with a senior ends in a car crash and she loses her right leg.
Suddenly nothing is the same. The simplest tasks become enormous challenges. Her friends don't seem to know how to act around her. Her family is supportive, but they don't really want to deal with how much she's hurting.
Then Rosamunde extends a prickly offer of friendship. Rosamunde definitely isn't the kind of girl Izzy would have been friends with in her old life. But Rosamunde may be the only person who can help Izzy face her new one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416903390
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/28/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	539,992
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 7.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Cynthia Voigt won the Newbery Medal for Dicey’s Song, the Newbery Honor Award for A Solitary Blue, and the National Book Award Honor for Homecoming, all part of the beloved Tillerman Cycle. She is also the author of many other celebrated books for middle grade and teen readers, including Izzy, Willy-Nilly, and Jackaroo. She was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 1995 for her work in literature, and the Katahdin Award in 2004. She lives in Maine.

Editorial Reviews

"A highly satisfying read...one of the notable books of the season."
— Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

In one of the Newbery Medalist's most poignant novels, a teenager learns to accept the changes in her life after she loses her leg in a car accident. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 6-9 Before, Izzy's life had been colorful as a pretty, popular cheerleader, but grayness swallows her up after a car accident results in the amputation of her leg. Her trio of girlfriends are too uncomfortable to be around her, but the void of their friendship is filled by unattractive, blunt Rosamunde, who bounds into her life, providing bolstering support. It's Rosamunde's persistence that helps Izzy over the hurdle of returning to school. Several expedients effectively convey Izzy's stages of reaction: the miniature Izzy visualized in her head that does back flips expresses her true feelings; the way denial is demonstrated by Izzy not looking at the empty leg space until 30 pages after the doctor tells her he has to take it off; the cool reserve of the black therapist which makes her ``examine'' herself. As with other Voigt characters, the perspective is from within. Readers see the mental anguish and self-pity through Izzy's eyes. Consciously, the pace is slow, as is the healing process, and the tone is ponderous throughout. The story is about learning to balance: physically as Izzy maneuvers herself on crutches and emotionally as she sorts out her friends and a new self-identification as Isobel. Work on the school paper, the prospect of a prosthesis and Rosamunde's staunch support start to mend her crippled life. No one will be able to finish this story without understanding the psychological trauma an amputee faces. The message is not Willy Nilly.Julie Cummins, Monroe County Lib . System, Rochester, N.Y.

School Library Journal