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Starred review from July 12, 2010
The proverbial search for youth's fountain manifests itself in Ellie Jerome, a 75-year-old woman who has employed every available artifice to remain young. Identifying more with her stylish young granddaughter, Lucy, than with her abrasive middle-aged daughter, Barbara, Ellie's 75th birthday wish is to be 29 again, for just one day. When her wish comes true, hilarious problems arise, as the young Ellie must create a new persona in order to enter and leave her apartment in a neighborhood where everyone knows the old Ellie. Choosing to let Lucy in on her secret, Ellie persuades her to be her guide on a youthful adventure in pursuit of stylish looks and a trendy life. While the dynamic duo romp through Ellie's magical day, Ellie's daughter and her dearest friend, Frida, a 75-year-old worry wart, having decided that Ellie was kidnapped, embark upon their own misguided adventure before the old (now wiser) Ellie returns at the end of her big day. With this rollicking, if familiar, offering, Halpern (whose earlier novel, The Ten Best Days of My Life, is being adapted into a film) sets out to prove that you're only young twice.

May 15, 2010
From Halpern (The Ten Best Days of My Life, 2008, etc.), the story of a wealthy Philadelphia widow nostalgic for her youth who finds her wish granted after her 75th birthday.

Elegant, independent and devoted to her family, Ellie Jerome has much to be thankful for in her life. Still, she cannot shake the nagging feeling that she missed out on something by marrying so young. Her husband Howard was a prominent lawyer who kept his emotions—and his infidelities—under wraps. Also, by living a few blocks away from her adored 25-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, Ellie is curious and a bit envious of the seemingly boundless opportunities modern young women enjoy. So when she wakes up the day after her birthday to find herself in her supple 29-year-old body, she takes it as a sign to do everything that she has long denied herself. She then sets off for a day of adventure with Lucy, who takes very little convincing that the strange lady in her grandmother's apartment is indeed her grandmother. Knowing that her daughter Barbara and best friend Frida would be harder sells (and killjoys), she ignores their increasingly alarmed phone messages and passes herself off as Lucy's cousin. She gets a cool haircut, buys a sexy dress and helps Lucy land a big sale for her fashion designs. She also meets a cute guy, Zachary, who asks her out for the evening. She agrees, thrilled, not really sure what the boys these days expect on a first date. Meanwhile, timid Frida and bossy Barbara experience a series of misfortunes while combing the streets in search of Ellie. That gives the two a chance to bond as well, and come to terms with their own regrets. Of course, Ellie cannot hide out for long, and all good things must end, even if they inconveniently end in a young man's bed.

A breezy, unremarkable comic romp with a comforting message of self-acceptance, offering a few poignant moments that underscore how far women have come in the past 50 years.

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