IZZY, WILLY-NILLY

Izzy, a nice 15-year-old in the best sense of that overused word, restructures her life after losing a leg in an automobile accident. There's nothing like trauma for sorting out true friends. Izzy's happy pre-accident world turns out to have been largely surface: the date whose drunken spree caused the accident never bothers to apologize; her best friends pay perfunctory visits but are obviously preoccupied with their own activities; her younger sister is jealous of the attention she's getting; even her parents, who at first seem ideally loving, supportive, and equipped with a good sense of humor, are so in the habit of concealing emotion and teaching their children to keep a stiff upper lip that they fail to realize Izzy's grief. Fortunately, help comes from a new friend: tactless, ebullient Rosamunde, who is bright and caring enough to imagine not only Izzy's physical struggles but her hidden emotions, and persistent enough to make friends. Voigt has a gift for writing books that are impossible to put down, not because of breathtaking plots but because her characters so involve the reader in their inner lives. This is a penetrating look at some real people. Izzy is a winner.