Saving Francesca

Saving Francesca, by Melina Marchetta (2003), is a fresh, touching, inspirational novel for adolescents. Saving Francesca creates a social commentary for complicated issues such as dealing with depression and becoming a social outcast. When Francesca starts at a new school, one of thirty girls at an all-male school of 750, she attempts to start fresh and branch out, but when her mother begins to suffer from depression Francesca has many new responsibilities placed upon her.