Customer Reviews

Get Well Soon

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really loved this book. The story is not at all what you'd expect from a book about a teenager hospitalized for depression. Halpern doesn't shy away from the darkness that got Ana there in the first place, but this is all tempered by the character's hilarious and witty voice. I enjoyed the crazy cast of characters Ana encounters, and although I haven't been in a situation like hers, the story rang very true for me.

Anna is fat and depressed. She suffers from panic attacks, and has stopped going to school. Her parents, who are totally clueless, decide to send her to a mental hospital. Will that do any good? Anna doesn't think so! Not in this place. Nobody tells her anything, they have the weirdest rules ever, and she's forced to wear these ugly pajamas all day long with no bra!

But as days go by, things turn out to be not as bad as she originally thought. Anna meets other teens. Matt O. has been living there for six months. Six whole months? Will Anna ever get out of this place? She also spends time with Sandy, her roommate who's eating for two and has to carry a baby doll all day long. Victor becomes the first black friend she's ever had. And finally, there's Justin -- Oh, Justin! -- the cutest guy around who may have even looked at her.

Written in the form of a letter to her best friend, Tracy, Anna describes all of the details of her life at the nut house in a very funny way, with a writing style that is just like... well... that of a teenage girl!

This story is engaging, the characters sound real, the writing is refreshing and natural, and the descriptions of the situations are hilarious!

Great job for a first time novelist, who's also a librarian and spent time in a psychiatric hospital herself when she was a teen. (She claims to be fine now!)

Reviewed by: Christian C.

Julie Halpern's first novel, Get Well Soon, is a very, very funny book. Anna's parents have had her hospitalized for depression because neither they nor her therapist knew how to help her. A teenager, Anna finds herself alone. She is told to write down her feelings and that writing her feelings will help. She rebels, "I'm not going to keep my thoughts around. I'm going to send them away. I'm going to write my thoughts in letters." Her letters are so funny that by page 11 it is impossible to contain the laughter. Halpern has a wonderful ear for dialogue. The voice of Anna rings saucy, true and sweet.

I really enjoyed this book! On the first page i admit i thought the main character was going to be whinny and complain about how she's in a mental hospital for no reason (annoying) but it wasnt, it was actually clever and really funny i found myself laughing out loud at how honest Anna was. The only thing i didn't like was the ending i was sad, once she got out it just kind of ended, i wanted her to be with Justin, but i'm a hopeless romatic like that! I'd recommend it for who likes humor and wit

I came across Julie Halpern's first novel while browsing the offerings over at Feiwel & Friends. I was so grateful they were publishing Long May She Reign that I grabbed Carpe Diem and GET WELL SOON as well because if they're publishing Ellen Emerson White books they not only have superb taste, they deserve my undying loyalty. Plus, both books just looked good. GET WELL SOON tells the story of Anna Bloom, a depressed teenager whose parents commit her to a mental institution when her panic attacks get in the way of her going to school. Alone, overweight, and braless, Anna starts writing a series of letters to her best friend Tracy as a way of staying sane despite being surrounded by drug dealers, Satanists, pregnant cheerleaders, oh my!

Anna's voice is at times bitter, amused, desperate, and uncertain. But it is always matter-of-fact. And it is this quality that is most appealing. I never got the feeling she was sugar-coating the way things were or trying to put something over on her reader. She writes all of these letters describing her experience in minute detail yet she doesn't send a single one. They stay in her room with her, her roommate Sandy, and Sandy's plastic baby Morgan. They seem to be a way of processing the unimaginable thing that has happened to her. By keeping them she can continue to review and add on to the narrative so that when it is time to go home there will be a record of how she survived. In an ironic twist of fate, life in the mental hospital turns out to be more interesting and "healthy" for Anna than it was outside. She makes friends who understand her and who do not send her "Get Well Soon" cards as though she had chicken pox or mono. Despite the absurd hospital workers and a few admittedly crazy fellow patients Anna is able to be herself. Paradoxically, the confining walls give her the space she needs to figure out not only what happened to her, but what she will do with this new-found self knowledge. I laughed repeatedly while reading about Anna and Sandy, Justin and Matt O. I felt about like Anna did when the time came to leave the hospital. I wasn't ready. A little more time in the loony bin, please. The real world can wait. But Anna had to go back home and the book had to end and I'm happy I got to spend this time with her.

As she sees it, Anna Bloom has been carted off to the loony bin. Why? Anna has extremely low self-esteem. She is constantly afraid people will make fun of her for how she looks or what she does. This fear makes her have panic attacks. And apparently, Anna's parents just didn't know how to deal with her, so they sent her off to a slightly crazy shrink (who thought everything was sexual in some way). When that didn't work, she was then sent to Lakeland Hospital, a mental institution. And a strange one, as Anna sees it.

The rules and hierarchy at Lakeland are confusing to Anna at first because no one explains them to her. But during her three week stay, things actually start to get better. She starts to lose weight. Her new roommate, who happens to be pregnant, becomes a great friend. And then there's the cutie Justin who just might like Anna back.

Get Well Soon was told in diary entries and letters to Anna's friend Tracy over the course of three weeks. It was a very cute book, but one that could be improved. Anna's love of music could've been more developed. Julie Halpern mentions how Anna's music always makes her feel better, but doesn't really go into depth. That's fine thought because music wasn't the focus of the novel. I really enjoyed the cast of characters; even the creepy ones were in some way lovable or at least funny to read about. Anna did grow as a person, although not that much, but then again, I don't think she had that many problems to begin with. I also highly enjoyed the romance between Anna and Justin.

All in all, Get Well Soon was one of the sweetest books I've read in a while. It left off on a bittersweet note, but one that was hopeful. If you like a lighthearted and short read, check out Get Well Soon.

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This is not the typical depressed teen in a mental hospital book. Halpern gives her main character, Anna, a unique sense of humor. The really funny moments of the book make you laugh out loud. There are also many interesting observations made by Anna about her fellow 'patients', and a romance that is sweet and daring under the circumstances. Get Well Soon is written in letter format, and you feel like you are sharing an inside joke with Anna the whole time you are reading. By the end of the book it feels like Anna was writing to you all along. If you're looking for a book that has a fresh new spin on what it's like to be a depressed teen, pick up Get Well Soon. It is easy to read and it would appeal to any age or gender.

Get Well Soon is the semi-autobiographical book about Anna Bloom, an overweight, over-depressed newly-admitted mental patient. Through her hilariously entertaining letters to her friend Tracy, Anna talks of her time at the mental hospital and her fellow patients, including the cutie Justin. Anna is confused- depression is supposed to be depressing, so why is she making so many friends and possibly a boyfriend? Will Anna and Justin be able to share their mutual feelings? Will Anna ever go back into the real world, or will she spend the rest of her life in the hospital with Matt O.? I guess you'll have to read to find out!
This book was amazingly, fantastically, hilariously good. The writing isn't the best because the whole book is letters from a teenager. However, I think the grammar mistakes, strange expressions and occasional cursing makes the book that much more realistic. Julia Halpern does a great job of writing from a adolescent's perspective and I was able to easily picture Justin, Colby, Anna, Matt O., Eugene and Big 'Do. The detail was fantastic! I found myself laughing out loud at multiple times while reading Get Well Soon. I have read it three times, and I plan to read it again and again. I strongly recommend that you do the same!

"Get Well Soon" is about Anna, a girl who gets dropped off in a mental hospital. It is a story about her coming to terms with being there, overcoming her "issues" and even making friends in the oddest of places.
I picked this book up because I read "Into the Wild Nerd Yonder" by the same author, and it is one of my favorite books ever. I loved the author's words and ability to make me laugh and stay entertained. Thankfully, this one didn't disappoint. The idea of being in a mental hospital is scary, but the author does a good job of making it seem less crazy.
Any teen struggling with anxiety or those who have been to a mental hospital should read this book. It will probably make them feel more normal. Also, if they have friends struggling with any type of mental illness or even ones who have been to the hospital, it will help them see what they are going through and not see them as different.
*Possible spoiler* My biggest gripe is the doctors and other workers. Most of them were hateful and uncaring. Thankfully there were a couple who were nice. I hated how Anna's doctor basically kept calling her fat. She wasn't in there because of her weight. Sure, losing weight might make her feel slightly more confident, but it wouldn't make her overcome anxiety and panic attacks. Most of the rules in the hospital made sense, but a couple were really unfair. These kids weren't in trouble, they were troubled.
Even with the few things that got to me, the book was a blast to read. It kept my attention, and it was pretty darn funny!

This book was amazing and everything I thought it would be. I found myself screaming from excitement a few times, and at the end, I was like wow I wart to go to a mental hospital.