The Symptoms of My Insanity

March 25, 2013
Izzy struggles with boys who make rude comments about her curvy shape and a critical mother who tells her "your body delivers a very specific message, whether you want it to or not." She has other problems, too, including her mother's cancer, an important art scholarship deadline, and cute but confusing Blake, who makes her wonder if she's his "Art Friend or Girlfriend." Izzy's problems come to a head when Blake takes a revealing photo of her, which quickly goes viral at school; at the same time, Izzy's mother has to have emergency surgery and may die. Izzy finally expresses her feelings, both face-to-face and through her art. Despite Izzy's lovably neurotic nature, readers may tire of tracking the overwhelming number of problems in her life, especially when some of these problems, like her hypochondria, seem scripted to make a point ("If I was sick... Mom could concentrate on something about me that's potentially fixable"). Even so, readers will likely appreciate a refreshing upheaval of mean-girl stereotypes when the other girls at school come up with a creative solution to at least one of Izzy's problems. Ages 12âup.

March 15, 2013
A teenage hypochondriac with large breasts learns to deal with life's pressure and find self-acceptance in this realistic debut. Izzy is running out of time to complete her art portfolio, her ever-expanding chest is the brunt of ogling and inappropriate jokes, and her mother's rare stomach cancer has probably returned. Naturally, the high school sophomore assumes that her body's idiosyncrasies must be a sign of a developing disease. There's still some hope for Izzy when popular basketball player Blake shows an interest in her. His affection is a ruse for a hazing prank, however, and when a cellphone photo of Izzy's bare breast goes viral, she becomes known as "Boobgirl" around school. Her internal questioning of the incident exemplifies what many teenage girls feel about sexual expectations and misguided culpability in sexual assaults. What could be tragic events for Izzy are tempered by her self-deprecating humor, plenty of female support and a chance for real romance. While some readers may be angered over the basketball players' complete escape from accountability and prosecution, the focus of Izzy's story is on female solidarity, particularly for women to stop being judgmental of one another. And Izzy does get her own justice in the end. A female Woody Allen for the teenage set. (Fiction. 13 & up)

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June 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Michigan teen Izzy has a lot going on: the deadline for her art portfolio is looming, her best friend has stopped talking to her, her breasts are drawing unwanted attention, her crush might (or might not) be interested in her, she can't stop her hypochondriac ways-and, oh yeah, her mom's cancer might not be in remission after all. It's no wonder she's not sure if she can keep it together. Raf's debut is a mix of true-to-life and the unbelievable. With so much happening for Izzy, the story feels crowded, which lessens the impact of her real crises and makes the resolution feel a little underdeveloped, especially the lack of consequences for a pack of sexting students. Every adult in the book condemns even a hint of teenage sexuality-even something as mild as wearing scoop-neck tops. Raf's dialogue is unusually halting and full of ellipses, which mirrors real-life conversations but makes exchanges between the characters drag. While the plot is predictable (Izzy and her mother eventually come to understand each other better, the popular boy who shows a sudden interest is really operating under a dare, another love interest is hiding in plain sight), Izzy's self-deprecating humor and wry observations bring fresh air to tired tropes. Raf's background in comedy serves her well and gives her protagonist an authenticity that will make readers feel invested in her story. A fairly standard contribution to the genre, but a solid one.-Gretchen Kolderup, New York Public Library

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2013
Grades 9-12 Izzy, 15, isn't your typical anxious teen. She is a straight-up cyberchondriac her sister dubs her Disease Louisewho scours the Internet to find horrid diagnoses to explain her every little ache and pain. It's somewhat understandable, given her mom's recovery from (and possible relapse of?) a rare stomach cancer. As if this stress isn't enough, Izzy has a play to assistant direct, three paintings to finish for a shot at an art scholarship, and oh yeah, you know, boys. Handsome Blake is finally paying attention to heran attention that leads to a circulated snapshot of her breast that lends her the moniker Boobgirl. Isn't there a sweet, cute guy who would treat her right? (Romance readers know the answer: he has been right there all along!) Raf's welcome debut alternates between hilarious neuroticism (hyperaware make-out session play-by-plays) and effective scenes of panic attacks as Izzy tries to deal with her mom's worsening condition. It's a generous book, overstocked with characters and dialogue, and it should succeed in putting any reader's problem into a wider, and funnier, perspective.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
Struggling to cope with her mother's cancer, Izzy becomes neurotically obsessed with self-diagnosis. To make matters worse, a popular athlete takes a semi-nude photograph of her during a sexual encounter and texts it to their classmates. The characters verge on stereotypes; while the unpunished assault is maddening, Raf's comedic lens centers the narrative on Izzy's personal coming-to-terms and empowering female camaraderie.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)