Who are your real friends? Izzy struggles to rethink her friendships and life after losing a leg in a car crash.

Coming home one evening from a party, Izzy's date, who is a little drunk, crashes the car into a tree, and Izzy loses most of her right leg. Voigt describes the characters with depth and richness: Izzy's family, loving but ultimately not helpful; her rough but sensible classmate Rosamunde; Izzy's selfish friends; but mainly Izzy herself. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Gr 6-9-Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voight (Atheneum, 1986) is the story of a 15-year-old girl coming to terms with the fact that she has lost her leg in an alcohol-related car accident. Actress Mandy Siegfried brings the story to life for listeners. She brilliantly captures the character of Izzy as she struggles with the realization that her life has been changed forever, and gives voice to Izzy's family, friends, and various members of the hospital staff. The narration is accomplished with just the right amount of emotion and articulation. This thought-provoking story easily gives rise to opportunities for serious discussions of numerous issues affecting teenagers today, such as drinking and driving, friendship, popularity, and disabilities.-Darlene Ford, Dauphin County Library System, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

When Izzy Lingard loses the lower part of her right leg in an auto accident, she is forced to look at her life from a radically different perspective. Newbery winner Voigt shows unusual insight into the workings of a 15-year-old girl's mind. Izzy faces the shock of loss, her friends' inability to cope with that loss, a bungling but bright classmate whose directness helps Izzy face reality, and a supportive, loving family who make her homecoming bearable. Just as Voigt's perceptive empathy brings Izzy to life, other characterizations are memorable, whether of Izzy's shallow former friends or of her egocentric 10-year-old sister. In this refreshing change from her Crisfield novels, Voigt provides not only a highly satisfying read, but one of the notable books of the season. (12-up) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved