Product Description

MOST OF MY friends now go to Pius Senior College, but my mother wouldn’t allow it because she says the girls there leave with limited options and she didn’t bring me up to have limitations placed upon me. If you know my mother, you’ll sense there’s an irony there, based on the fact that she is the Queen of the Limitation Placers in my life.

Francesca battles her mother, Mia, constantly over what’s best for her. All Francesca wants is her old friends and her old school, but instead Mia sends her to St. Sebastian’s, an all-boys’ school that has just opened its doors to girls. Now Francesca’s surrounded by hundreds of boys, with only a few other girls for company. All of them weirdos—or worse.

Then one day, Mia is too depressed to get out of bed. One day turns into months, and as her family begins to fall apart, Francesca realizes that without her mother’s high spirits, she hardly knows who she is. But she doesn’t yet realize that she’s more like Mia than she thinks. With a little unlikely help from St. Sebastian’s, she just might be able to save her family, her friends, and—especially—herself.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #143643 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-09
• Released on: 2006-05-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780375829833
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
“A rich exploration of maturation, identity, family, and friendship.” —The Bulletin, Starred


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Review
“A rich exploration of maturation, identity, family, and friendship.” —The Bulletin, Starred

About the Author
Melina Marchetta lives in Sydney, Australia, where she is a teacher. She is also the author of Looking for Alibrandi, which received numerous awards and was released as a major Australian film. Saving Francesca is her second novel.


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

BEST BOOK EVER
I have read this book three times and I love thi book to death. The story is about Francesca, or Frances. Her mother, normally up-beat and lively, one day suddenly falls ill. She won't move from her bed or eat. It is up to frances to work her family, while dealing with some struggles in highschool. Will Trombal. She hates him one minute, they are making out the next. it is up to frances to solve her mother's mysterious illness, and keep her self alive.

this book is wonderfully written, and grasps u to the fullest extent!

I'm surprised a middle-age English teacher chose this!
I have to read this for summer reading going into 9th grade and then write and essay. I chose it because it seemed pretty interesting. Little did I know that I would love it! I read it in a few hours. It's pretty deep. I know why my English teacher chose it. It seems kind of like a typical teen novel but it's definetely much much more than that. I recommend it!

KCS Saving Francesca
New girl Francesca Spinelli never anticipated finding happiness at Saint Sebastian's. A high school in Sydney, Australia that "pretends it's a coed school by giving the girls their own toilet". Not only is this spunky teen surrounded by disgusting boys, but the only girls at St. Sebastian's are freaks. Things only get worse when an unexplainable obstacle appears. The "Queen of Limitation Placers" (a.k.a "Mom" and "Mia"), suddenly resigns from her position to lie in bed all day. It began with an excuse of physical illness, but after weeks Mia's emotional condition becomes apparent. Her state of depression is tearing the Spinelli's apart. Francesca is with deep grief led to believe the upbeat woman who used to begin the day singing inspirational songs and posting motivational messages around the house had lost her love for life because of her children. As Francesca's life at home rapidly plunges downhill, schools only comfort are her friends. However, who in the midst of her current hardships are real friends is not yet clear. To top off this teen's misery Francesca's heart is stolen by an unexpected love.
Through a book about love, friendship, family and despair Marchetta kept me interested with a unique array of characters and the portrayal of emotional disasters within a family. The author's craft was witty and spunky like Francesca from a first person's view. I don't believe it was written from any religious perspective, although St. Sebastian's is a Catholic school. The pace was average. I recommend this book to female teens and parents who want to remember what it's like to be in their daughter's shoes.