I have no idea - I haven't read Girl, Interrupted so I don't know if it's mirrored or anything. Probably it's just a cool thing that seemed as though it might attract teen readers.

Alex is wonderful. I liked reading her biography bit at the end of Songs for Alex. Was she based on a real person?

You should defintiely read both Blaize books. There are even better quotes in the first book. Where I am in the sequel, David is angsting because there's a tennis match between him and Frank to decide who plays first string for the university, and he desperately wants Frank to win.