George asked Francesca Zappia:

I've once done some research on schizophrenia for an English project. While I was developing a big interest to learn more about people with the mental illness, I decided that I would someday write a book about a schizophrenic MC, or at least I would read books tackling the issue. Then I found your book, and I had to ask: Do we learn much about paranoid schizophrenia by exploring Alex's mind in Made You Up?

Francesca Zappia I think readers will definitely learn about schizophrenia by spending some time with Alex. I hope it will show how many different ways it can affect the person who has it, and how sad, frustrating, scary, and even comforting it can be. There aren't many parts in the book where the illness is explained outright by a doctor or therapist, but Alex lives it constantly. Because she's still a teenager, the illness isn't full-blown yet (though at times does become very serious), and has the support of her family, a therapist, and medication, so what's depicted in the book is already a more hopeful case than some. Anyone looking for an extremely gritty, dark novel is not going to find it here--I'm more interested in giving people a better understanding of schizophrenia than I am in scaring them!

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