Meanwhile, as if this isn’t enough for one teenager to handle, Francesca develops a crush on a guy that she thinks is arrogant and not even good-looking. He places a lot of responsibility on Francesca, but what even consider that her mother might need help. She blames her father, which I kind of understand. Francesca sees this as a flaw and voices her concern over the fact that she’s afraid that one day she might find that her Mom’s killed herself while she’s at school. That she’ll be normal again if they just leave her alone, which is probably one of the worse things I can imagine for a depressed person. You can only treat it.) Alas, though, everyone in Francesca’s family thinks her mother needs time to recover. He tells her that her mother would never want to be on drugs, as if that is the only way someone can cope with depression (and notice how I say ‘cope’. The book does a somewhat decent portrayal of depression, but the problem I had, was that Francesca’s father refuses to get her mother help. She doesn’t help her family out in any way, even though she’s always been the backbone. She doesn’t eat, because she throws everything up. It’s not, though.įrancesca’s mother suddenly won’t get out of bed, eat, or acknowledge her family. I honestly thought it was going to be very similar to Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series (which I highly recommend, especially if you need a good laugh). I didn’t love it because there some issues that needed to be addressed more fully, which I’ll talk about later, but the book was very true to life in places and dealt with issues I was not really expecting to be dealt with in this book. Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, her social life and-hardest of all-herself.” Then there’s Francesca’s mother, who always thinks she knows what’s best for Francesca-until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling who she really is.

The boys are no better, from Thomas who specializes in musical burping to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can’t seem to stop thinking about. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly dorky accordion player.

Sebastians, a boys’ school that’s pretends it’s coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her book Jellicoe Road won the Printz (and is on my to-read list). It’s won a ton of awards and Marchetta is one of the most prominent Aussie writers out there. So, like with My Life Next Door, I read Saving Francesca to satisfy my YA urge.

Saving francesca