Anybody with the last name LeFreak is sure to have an interesting life. Veronica “Very” LeFreak is no different. Nearly finished with her freshman year at Columbia University, Very is in danger of not being allowed back for her sophomore year. She may lose the scholarship her great-aunt helped her get, and it seems as if the dean and her resident assistant are both out to get her.

It’s not Very’s fault that she’s better at party planning, computer programming and socializing than she is at school-related matters. She would rather spend her time with her roommate, Jennifer-who-is-called-Lavinia, her cuddle-buddy-but-not-boyfriend Bryan, and his videogaming roommate Jean-Wayne (no, that’s not a typo; he’s part French-Canadian). She’s also dealing with the disappearance of El Virus, her online “boyfriend” who used to be as technologically obsessed as her and now appears nowhere online.

Being surgically attached to her computers finally takes its toll on Very, and those very friends soon stage an intervention. Very is sent off to rehab at ESCAPE --- Emergency Services for Computer-Addicted Persons Everywhere. Still resentful that she’s torn away from everyone and everything she loves, and that her best friends have betrayed her, Very vows not to enjoy the experience and get out and go right back to her iPhone.

But strangely, ESCAPE becomes just that for Very. She’s not cheesy enough to become an acolyte of Dr. Joy (more fondly called Dr. Killjoy) or go home and burn her laptop, but she is given time to think. Who is Very LeFreak, anyway? Is she still dealing with her mother’s death? Does she feel bad about dumping Bryan, or is that just the way things go? And can Very find the part of her personality that is all hers and not part of her technological persona?

VERY LEFREAK is one of those rare teen books that really gets it. Rachel Cohn doesn’t have to try to sound like a teenager --- she just does. And even though the novel has a somewhat silly premise (although maybe rehab from technology is a good idea), VERY LEFREAK is grounded and real, and it deals with college, sexuality and changing friendships in a way that is very hard to portray accurately and authentically.

The author of NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST and GINGERBREAD, Cohn is no stranger to smart and smart-alecky protagonists. Those who are tired of predictable, packaged books, or can’t quite identify with more mainstream YA characters, will love the people who populate VERY LEFREAK. There is a combination of silly, clichéd characters like Dr. Joy and real, identifiable ones like Very that is hard to find and appreciate in many other novels.