Aw, it was just such a cute book, which teen issues, and humor, and music, and unlikely friendships, just overall satisfying. Plus it's a very short read, so yeah, I needed more. It's the type of book you just WANT to keep reading. She's very witty and full of humor.You can totally relate with her as character, and having read Halpern before, I know that she does a great job at female characterization.I was dissapointed when it ended, and not because it was a bad ending but because I just knew I would miss Anna. Though it ended up being a sweet, hopeful read and not very dark at all, which actually worked out better because of Anna's way of narrating. This kind of bothered me at first, but then you get used to it and it works.As a fan of dark contemporary I was immediately attracted to the premise. So you read everything after it has happened. That's one of the most important things in realistic fiction and she definitely nails it! Anna's story is told in diary-like letters to her friend Tracy while she's stuck in a 'loony bin'. Anna's voice was fresh and cool and unique. Julie Halpern has a rare gift with literary voice. I read it so that I could read the follow up book by Julie Halpern, Have a Nice Day, which was just released. I'll let you read the book to find out what those things are.

It dawns on Anna that during her three weeks in this isolated environment, she has lost wieght, had no panic attacks and made friends, things that didn't happen that much in the outside world.But some things don't change making the reader wonder whether things will go back to normal when Anna returns home. Hottie, Justin tried to commit suicide when he hurt his hand with a saw, ruining his ability to play bass guitar.

Her roommate, Sandy, fakes a pregnancy to keep her boyfriend. Through a continuning letter to her friend Tracy, Anna recounds her three weeks at Lake Side (aka Lake Shit). Her parents don't know what to do so they commit her to a mental institution. She's overweight, prone to panic attacks and generally unhappy. Anna doesn't want to go to school anymore.

Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern