Review: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta plus Giveaway!

Saving Francesca
Melina Marchetta
Kindle Edition: 256 pages
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released: 12/18/07
(first published 2003)
Amazon | GR | TBD

Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastians, a boys’ school that’s pretends it’s coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an an impossibly dorky accordion player. 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.

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, along, and without an inkling who she really is. 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.

Review:
If you are anything like Will Trombal, you plan your plans. And that is exactly what I do.

Every month, I painstakingly make myself a little list of books I plan to read for the month. And that list is always chock full. But then, some five star review comes along and makes you want to change it all. (Homage to Will, paid in full!)

In the midst of being caught between two rather dry reads (no pun intended Wither and Drought), I decided I needed something a little more enticing. So that is why I was glad to stumble upon Galla’s review of Saving Francesca, which quickly had me changing my reading plans for the month.

Life isn’t easy for Francesca Spinelli. If it were, her mother would be dictating her life while Francesca attended the school all her ex-Stella’s friends are attending. But no. Somehow Francesca ends up at St. Sebastians, which once only admitted boys. To make matters worse, her mother isn’t getting out of bed. Leaving Francesca to debate whether she is Bitch Spice, Butch Spice, Slutty Spice or Stupid Spice all while faking indifference to Will Trombal, the droid she is secretly in love with.

Saving Francesca is one girl’s remarkable tale of overcoming insecurities while learning acceptance of self doubt and other natural disasters. The journey for answers that Francesca embarks on isn’t one that she willingly commits to, thus opening the flood gates to a torrent of up heaving emotions, but Marchetta doesn’t leave you drowning in a your own bucket of tears. Welcoming and warm humor that stretches the spectrum of subtle to absurd is cleverly provided at almost each turn of the page.

I think a true nod of genius has to go to Marchetta’s off-beat cast of characters. Charmingly hysterical and simply delightful, the lot of them. The pokes at satire hidden in each character could have quickly made them cartoonish, but each exhibited a magical yet realistic manner of individualism that made them all the more enduring. And, I’m still not quite sure how Marchetta managed to have me swooning over adolescent boys who hold badges of honor for loudest burps and farts and talk about tits at every available opportunity.

Saving Francesca is contemporary fiction that redefines refreshing. I can not wait to be reunited with the characters in The Piper’s Son.

Challenge(s): 111 in ‘11 Challenge, Aussie YA Reading Challenge

How would you like to win a copy of Saving Francesca AND The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta? Australia needs our help right now, guys.

Donate at least $2.00 (but feel free to donate as much as you can) to the Queensland Flood Appeal and you will be entered into a drawing to win both of these amazing books by Aussie author Melina Marchetta. Prizes can be substituted if you already own these books.

Entering this giveaway is simple. Donate, then forward your donation receipt to missie@theunreadreader.com. Please be sure to remove any personal information before you forward the receipt. I just need your first name and an e-mail address to contact you if you win. If you don’t feel comfortable forwarding me your receipt, simply take a screen cap pic of the page that says your donation has successfully been processed and send me that. Example:

click to enlarge

If you have already donated, you can still enter this giveaway! Just forward the info required.

Tweets, posts, or anything to get the word out about this giveaway will earn you extra entries. Simply leave the links to any extra entries in the comments section or include them in your e-mail.

Texas sized THANK YOU to everyone who donates!

Important stuff: Open to anywhere Amazon or The Book Depository (for International participants) ships! BEFORE you enter this giveaway, please check to see if The Book Depository ships to your country. Click here for the list. I reserve the right to choose the most economical option. Winner will be chosen using random.org and will be announced Tuesday, February 1st.

Last note: The U.S. release of The Piper’s Son is March 8, 2011. If the winner selected turns out to be from the U.S. the book will be pre-ordered for them.

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Posted at 4:28 pm  •  Labels: 2011, 5 stars, Aussie title, Book Review, contemporary fiction, giveaway, YA