“Azzoni’s conversational writing catches you in the first few paragraphs…you feel like a friend on the other end of a phone call.”
— BUST magazine
Tizzy coming March 2026!
Tizzy’s trying to keep her cool. It’s the 90s. She’s nineteen, fueled by caffeine, riot grrrl, and repression. She’s got a boyfriend, a job at the hip campus co-op, and a roommate who burns sage in the bathroom. But when her body starts to short-circuit, memories she’s spent years keeping at bay surge to the surface. To top it off, Tizzy finds herself drawn to TJ, her boyfriend’s best friend — all swagger, sarcasm, and unexpected tenderness in her leather jacket and combat boots. With her nervous system lighting up in ways she can no longer ignore, Tizzy begins to realize she must face what she’s been running from. Tizzy is a fever dream of denial and desire, a coming-of-age novel in which the key to healing is feeling everything.
Advance Praise for Tizzy
“Beautiful and moving.” — Andrea Lawlor, Author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
“Azzoni's Tizzy, refuses to take the shape of a trauma narrative. True to life, Azzoni casts a net over the full spectrum of human emotion, allowing pain and grief to co-exist with joy, humor, crushes, friendships, family, and the everyday. We follow Tizzy along the difficult and necessary path of re-inhabiting herself—not as the girl she was before, but as an architect of herself and her future. Tizzy is an honest, tender and immersive read. Radiant, visceral, and profoundly hopeful, Tizzy is an anthem for anyone journeying through the radical act of coming home to themselves.” — Shoshana von Blanckensee, Author of Girls, Girls, Girls
About Elena
Elena Azzoni is an Italian-American writer whose work explores identity, desire, and the long road back to the body.
She is the author of A Year Straight (Seal Press, Hachette, 2011), and her work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Elle, make/shift magazine, The Stephanie Miller Show, and feminist anthology, We Don't Need Another Wave (Seal Press, Hachette, 2006). Elena holds an MFA in Creative Inquiry from New College of California, where she studied under renowned activist poet, Judy Grahn. She also holds a BA in Women’s Studies and Social Thought & Political Economy from UMass, Amherst, and is currently pursuing an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Elena lives with her family in Brooklyn, NY.
Her debut novel, Tizzy, will be released in March 2026 by RISE BOOKS (Simon & Schuster).
Photo: Liz Clayman
Praise for Elena’s Work
“Frank, funny and revealing of relations between–and among–the sexes."
— Kirkus Reviews
"Elena's moments of awkwardness, exhilaration, self-doubt, and heartbreak are told with engaging wit and candor, but it is her forthrightness about the complex issues of gender and sexuality that make this book so original.”
— Lisa Diamond, author, Sexual Fluidity
“A hilarious, engrossing page-turner that presents a whole new twist on the Manhattan dating scene. Azzoni’s light, engaging voice made me pine for my young New York single days. A new perspective and great read.”
— Katie Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Girls in Trucks
"Elena Azzoni's memoir is a delightful read-thoughtful and surprising, Azzoni seals the deal with her bona fide and unassuming wit."
— Alix Olson, award-winning feminist scholar & poet
"Her winning writing makes such a unique subject feel so relatable."
— Tami Sagher, writer, How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, and Bored to Death