Anna has just been released from the Lakeside Mental Hospital ("Lakeshit" or just "Shit") when her parents announce that they are separating. In addition, she has to start school again, after her 3 week incarceration, and doesn't know what to expect. Thank goodness for her best friend, Tracy, who somewhat paves the way for her.

In Have a Nice Day, Julie Halpern gets Anna back on track to a 'normal' life, as normal as can be if your parents are separating, you've been in a mental hospital, you don't know what to expect from schoolmates and you miss your hospital friends.

Halpern admirably describes Anna's fear of 'setting her father off' on one of his tirades and never knowing what it is that actually does set him off. She describes the trauma of parental separation, being a kid who is, at times, forced to be a parent to a parent, panic attacks, etc. She also does a nice job of getting Anna back on track, how she gradually realizes that she is happy(ier) than she previously was and how her self perception changes.

I found it strange, though, that Get Well Soon had the appearance of a middle school book while Have a Nice Day is definitely Young Adult. Anyway, read this book and Have a Nice Day. ( )