Halpern, Julie. Have a Nice Day.

Halpern, Julie.  Have a Nice Day.   Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   2012  325p  $16.99      978-0-312-60660-2   ms/hs  (Grades 7-12)  Realistic Fiction      VG   

In this sequel to Get Well Soon, Anna is fresh out of a three-week stay in a mental hospital to which her family committed her when she showed erratic behavior linked to depression and panic attacks.  Concerned about how she will be received at school and how she will make up her school work, Anna hesitantly reenters school and suffers some of the same symptoms that landed her in the mental ward.  With the understanding of her best friend Tracy and her younger sister Mara, Anna slides into a new “normal” and continues her recovery.  Her parents’ divorce, group therapy, reading Catcher in the Rye in English class, and the usual high-school activities associated with the homecoming dance all provide insight into her life while she was a patient, as well as her current life as a typical high-school student.  Romance, at the mental hospital, at her outpatient group-therapy sessions, and in high school, creates a chain of healthy emotions that will lead Anna into feeling better about herself.  Humor, often tinged with scatological references and typical teenage sexual innuendo, show Anna to be a brash, outspoken, and yet sometimes insecure person, who yearns to have a normal life, whatever that means.  For those who read the first book in the series, Anna’s journey comes full circle.  Those new to the series will discover unique characters that become endearing by the book’s end.

Mental illness - Fiction                                    --Lois McNicol