‘Saving Francesca’ is a book about family, love, depression and friendship. It grips you from the very first pages, and once you start to read there’s no going back.Francesca is beginning her second term at an all boys school that has only just began accepting girls (and by that they mean giving them their own toilet block). She misses all her old friends and can’t stand the immature teenagers that populate the school. To make things even worse, her mother has experienced an emotional breakdown, and the depression that comes with it has kept her stapled to her bed. In turn Francesca is forced to dive head on into new experiences, friendships and romance that lead her to thinking the question that flutters, dust-covered amongst the back of everyone’s mind… is change really such a bad thing? Join Francesca with her heart warming adventures, eye-watering romance and emotional roller coasters in ‘Saving Francesca’. You won’t regret it.
Amanda, Year 9

A journey of a girl who feels alone in the world, a story of depression, of crisis and of love. Francesca is one of the first girls at a recently co-ed school and is fighting to get equality for girls. All the while, her mother is battling severe depression which could tear their family apart. And of course, she begins to fall for the most unlikely of persons. Can Francesca save her family? Does she have the strength to pull through this ordeal? Can her relationship survive? Are you a girl who loves a dramatic story for the mind and the heart? Then I suggest you read this novel. You won’t be sorry!
Courtney – Year 9
The life of a teenager has always been really hard. But for Francesca Spinelli, hard is an understatement. Her controlling mother is the rock of the family and when she falls into acute depression Francesca’s family find it increasingly hard to cope. As if that wasn’t enough, she’s in her second term in an all boys school that pretends to be co-ed by giving the girls their own toilets. With all her old friends gone, her family falling apart, an on and off relationship, how could Francesca’s life get any more screwed up? The plot is so enthralling, and relative to teenage life, the worst thing about the book was that I couldn’t put it down! Follow Francesca on a journey to find herself.  You’ll become engrossed in her story, just like I was.

Monika, Year 9

This is a captivating story full of both joy and heartbreak. Francesca is beginning her second term at her recently turned co-ed school, St Sebastian’s. Missing her old friends, she finds it hard to make new ones and to make matters even more difficult her mother has undergone a breakdown and is now suffering acute depression. But what Francesca had not expected was the sudden loyalty of her new friends and finding love in the most surprising of places. Can Francesca find the strength within to pull her family back together? Follow Francesca as she endures the hardships of friendship, love and depression.     Laura, Year 9