Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern

American Literature 5 Comments

Synopsis:
Abby’s in a mental hospital, but this is no feel-good inspirational tale–her comic outlook on life makes this a most irreverent tale.

Review:
I picked Get Well Soon up at Book Expo–it comes out in October 2007. I enjoyed it so much that I thought I’d give it a bit of advance buzz.

Julie Halpern gives her teen protagonist a great sense of humor, which really elevated this book above what you’d typically expect from a YA book about mental illness. These are teenagers, after all–just because they’re locked up with emotional problems doesn’t mean that they’re sitting around talking about their feelings. Yet Halpern, who based the book on her own experiences, doesn’t minimize the fact that these kids are dealing with real issues.

Get Well Soon is Halpern’s first novel, and I hope she’s got more on the way. For more information on the book, you can check out her website. According to the back of the ARC, there will be a First Chapter reader review program at the publisher’s site, but I don’t think the site is up yet. If you are a YA fan, I highly recommend checking out this book.

5 thoughts on “Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern”

  1. The title alone makes the book seem pretty funny. Sounds very refreshing. If a YA book about mental illness follows a different direction than the expected pain and angst, that’s even exciting.

  3. Thanks, Superfast Reader, for such a wonderful review! I am so glad you liked the book. I wish I had your superpower of superfast reading. I think my only superpower is vacation planning. I’m quite good at it. Thanks again for the review!

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