Reading adolescent books with adult eyes is more enlightening than I'd ever imagine. I know many books I read as a child my mom did not necessarily approve of (like the Sweet Pickles series...I think because of gender inequality?) and many I read I would not now approve of (although I would never discourage the reading of any book, even if it is crap). So I read the "classic" Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt in part to see how my adult self would react to it.
Voigt was the Jodi Picoult of the 1980s. She wrote books that dealt with sensitives subjects for young adults; Izzy, Willy-Nilly has the tagline, "One drunk driver changed her life forever." I don't remember reading this book as an adolescent, but if I did, I would probably be in awe of Izzy and her friends dating, being cheerleaders and popular and going to parties. The lives of literary teens never seemed to quite mimic mine at the time. But as an adult, I really identified with the friendship that Izzy and Rosamunde formed. It seemed entirely plausible that many of Izzy's friends would lack the maturity and introspection to know how to transcend from a friendship with a perfectly mobile Izzy to a friendship with Izzy with a "leg and a half".
A lot of the book was very 1980s-- the big hair, the references to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" and most notably, for me, the lack of independence and career motivation for Izzy and her friends. There was definitely a lot of talk about "having a good figure" and not so much talk about extracurricular activities and volunteering, which are a way of life for all teens now. Most noticebly absent from this book was the lack of repurcussion for the drunk driver.
Izzy frequently imagined a tiny, imaginary, replica of herself who perfectly reflected her feelings at given moments, even if she didn't publicly display those emotions. And Izzy was proud, scared, nervous and catty. All realistic for a 15 year old girl.
Despite it shortfalls (seriously-- address the drunk driving if you're going to bring it up!), I would be happy to recommend this book to a teen girl.
Netflix stars: 3/5
1 comment:
I read all of her books. I really enjoyed your review; most of all comparing reading it now to reading it as a teenager.
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