Made You Up

by Francesca Zappia

[Sam@WLABB]

Could you imagine wondering if what you were seeing or perceiving was real? That was a challenge Alex faced on a daily basis. Add to that, the desire for all the things average teens want - college, friends, an after school job, and you can see that Alex didn't have it easy. Made You Up was an interesting and thought provoking look at one young schizophrenics life, which I really enjoyed.

I have a relative, who is schizophrenic, and it can be a very difficult disorder to manage. I thought Zappia did a nice job conveying that challenge in this story. There was medication to keep her symptoms at bay, therapy to help her cope with those the medication could not curb, and the disequilibrium of constantly having to wonder if something was real or a delusion/hallucination. These were all things that Alex had to work around on a daily basis, and I appreciated that she dealt with all these things, while still trying to reach her goals of college.

I loved Alex, and I was so elated, when she found her tribe. Zappia assembled an interesting group to support her in her new school. This merry band of misfits showed their friendship many times during this story, and I was so glad Alex's punishment brought them into her orbit. I was even more happy, that it reunited her with Miles.

Miles was a really complicated character, who I couldn't help but love. He had many things in his life, that were working against him. He had a mission to "rescue" his mother and escape his father, and he was willing to go to great lengths to make this happen. He was wounded, but kept on going, regardless. His fortitude was overlooked by many, but not Alex. It was something they both had in common, even if they didn't recognize it in themselves.

But, what they really had in common with each other was a love for history. Miles loved to play a sort of twenty questions game, where he would challenge someone to make him guess a mystery person's identity via yes or no questions. I think it was love at first game for Alex, when she played with Miles. The surprise and admiration he elicited from her was precious, and I saw he valued her intelligence as well. This admiration turned to friendship, and once trust between them was established, it took a romantic turn, which I really was happy about.

Alex took the unreliable narrator role to a new level for me. There were many times I wasn't sure what was real and what was delusion, but there were a few reveals that left me reeling. One of them actually made me cry. I swear, it broke my heart, and it brought out the idea of what responsibilities the loved ones of a schizophrenic have to them.

I won't lie about the ending either. I would love a little follow up there, because I honestly was questioning what was reality and what was fantasy. So, kudos to Zappia, for planting so much doubt in my mind.

Overall: I was extremely happy I had the chance to meet Alex, and I thought that Zappia did a wonderful job helping me understand her and bringing me into her world via a story, that was difficult at times, but also funny, joyful, and smile inducing.

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