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"This morning, my mother didn't get out of bed." So begins the saga of Francesca Spinelli, the hilarious and achingly real creation of Aussie author Melina Marchetta. Francesca used to think her biggest problem was transferring to St. Sebastian's--a school only recently turned coed: "What a dream come true, right? Seven hundred and fifty boys and thirty girls? But the reality is that it's either like living in a fish bowl or like you don't exist." But now there's this matter of her usually vibrant and annoyingly optimistic mother Mia refusing to get up in the morning. Her taciturn father doesn't have much to say on the subject, her beloved little brother Luca is anxiously looking to her for answers, and her so-called friends from her old neighborhood seem to have abandoned her. So, Francesca keeps it all inside--her frustration with school (there aren't enough girl's bathrooms and no girl's sports teams); her fear making new friends (with the few girls who do go to St. Sebastian's); and her overwhelming hatred of the smug Will Trombal, who despite being completely infuriating, is also incredibly cute. Keeping this to herself when all she wants to do is spill it to her mother is killing Francesca, but with Mia trying to make herself well again, Francesca will have to figure out how to save herself.

What makes Saving Francesca an exceptional standout in a vast field of mediocre teen chick lit is Frankie's painfully nuanced characterization. It has been ten years since high school teacher Marchetta's break out hit, Looking for Alibrandi, came out in her native Australia, and the care and precision she took in getting Francesca's voice just right is evident. As a result, there isn't a girl alive that wouldn't feel right at home in Francesca's skin. Her frank observations about boys, with their hygienically-challenged habits and their ineptitude in dealing with the opposite sex, are dead-on and riotously funny. Marchetta deftly balances Francesca's humor with a sympathetic depiction of Mia's struggle with clinical depression, creating a well-rounded novel that will prompt both laughter and tears. Fans can only hope that they won't have to wait another decade for Marchetta to gift them with another of honest and moving story. --Jennifer Hubert

Book 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.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book........2006-05-16

This book is definitely a good and illustrates how a girl in Francesca's situation would feel. Being in a virtually all-boys Catholic school and being separated from "friends" who always seem to be telling her what she should be, Francesca slowsly turns into the original, unique person she once was.

Things that happen in her school and with her friends are exceptionally amusing and even realistic, but her mother being sick for the most of the book and the author spending so many pages describing this got boring towards the end. Mia (the mother)'s reason for being sick remains ambiguous, though some may think it's "obvious" that it's an acute depression.
When I was reading it for the first time, this was no problem; however, when I reread it, I found myself skipping those parts and going straight to Francesca's life at school.

One of the best voices in adolescent literature.......2006-04-23

I picked up this book on a whim, and I ended up reading the entire thing in one sitting. I've read a lot of young adult novels, but this was one of the best I've read in a long time, and possibly ever. Can't remember the last time one of these novels had me laughing out loud and crying in the bathtub. I'll be looking up Melina Marchetta's previous novel and be waiting anxiously for her next one. Read this book!

Saving Francesca.......2006-03-14

I thought this book was good, but boring. Most of the time there is no interest and I found myself easily distracted by other things. Some parts were interesting, such as the part where Francis ran away or when she was fighting with her dad. But most of the time there was the boring sideplot of how her school only has 30 girls. I think this should have been built on because it would've made it more interesting if the girls did something about it. Otherwise, really good and a happy ending.

this book was amazing.......2006-03-03

Ok, so I just picked up this book for a class because we had to read for 30 minutes every Wednesday and Friday. I didn't expect to love it. The whole book was so interesting that I finished it in one day! (and i hate reading!!) I truly hope that Melina Marchetta writes a sequal to this book because I would love to read about Francesca again and live in her world again. This book has made me like reading again! I recommend this book to any one who wants an interesting, yet good read!

This is a must read for any teenage girl... or anyone, really.......2005-12-28

I picked up this book (American version) at the library about a month ago because I liked the pretty plaid on the back cover. I'm so glad I did. It is now up at the top of my list of favorite books, along with all the Tamora Pierce books and the Abhorsen Trilogy (Garth Nix).

Saving Francesca is really not what you might think. I read the back cover and assumed it would be a brain-numbing book about stupid relationships and breakups and flirting, etc (like a Gossip Girls novel *yuck*). Instead, I was thrown into Francesca's world. I lived and breathed her finding herself. Her dealing with her mother's depression. Her falling in love. Her realizing the good things she had but didn't see.

This book is wonderful. I really found myself relating with Francesca or (at least) one of her friends the entire time I read it. I loved Francesca's sarcastic sense of humor and found her narration extremely refreshing. This author knows her stuff!

I laughed. I cried. I BOUGHT this book even though I'd already read it (I NEVER do that...I'm too cheap). Please take my word for it and give this book an hour of your time. I swear you won't be able to put it down.

Average customer rating:

I love this book
laugh-out-loud funny
great book
BEST BOOK EVER

Saving Francesca
Melina Marchetta
Manufacturer: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375829830
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

I love this book.......2007-09-06

I could read this book a million times and never get tired of it! I recommend this book to everyone!

laugh-out-loud funny.......2007-08-29

Several people recommended this book to me, and I finally sat down to read it. It started out slow, but, considering the storyline, I can overlook that part. Once I was a few chapters into it, I couldn't put it down. I knew that Francesca (first name Francis, called that by her limitation placing friends) was going to rediscover herself, but I had no idea how she would do it. And that's what kept me riveted through the novel.

The dialog was sharp and hilarious, and I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. I'd highly recommend this to anyone, kids and adults alike.

great book.......2006-06-16

Saving Francesca is a great book. It is everything from comedy to romance all wrapped up into one book. Melina Marchetta has a special way of writing that will send you spiraling into Francesca's world. I have read this book more than once and enjoyed it each time, which is something that rarely happens to me.
I would also just like to say that contrary to the review listed below this one, Francesca is never once called "Frances" in the book.
I recommend this book to all readers. It is a great read that should be enjoyed by all.

BEST BOOK EVER.......2006-06-09

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!

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Saving Francesca
Melina Marchetta
Manufacturer: Bolinda Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1740931149

Flexible Benefits Answer Book (Second Edition)

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Flexible Benefits Answer Book (Second Edition)
Mark B. Manin , Francesca G. Sciandra , and Linda Frayling
Manufacturer: Panel Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B000MF2ZPG

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This book will help benefits and human resource professionals to design, implement, and administer programs for benefit plans.

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Saving Francesca
Melina Marchetta
Manufacturer: Viking Penguin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHAFQS

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Saving Francesca
Melina Marchetta
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book

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ASIN: 0786273097

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Limitation Placers in Francesca's life: St. Sebastian's, which pretends to be a coed school; the dearth of female companions to be found there; and the endless supply of idiotic, smug boys. But the Queen of Limitation Placers is her vivacious mother, who makes her attend the hateful school - until the day she's stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost and alone.

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Saving Francesca
Melina Marchetta
Manufacturer: Bt Bound
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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Saving Francesca (Unabridged)
Melina Marchetta
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000H1QZYW

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The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has emerged as one of the most exciting and dynamic areas in contemporary ecology. Increasing domination of ecosystems by humans is steadily transforming them into depauperate systems. How will this loss of biodiversity affect the functioning and stability of natural and managed ecosystems? This volume provides the first comprehensive and balanced coverage of recent empirical and theoretical research on this question. It reviews the evidence, provides bases for the resolution of the debate that has divided scientists on these issues, and offers perspectives on how current knowledge can be extended to other ecosystems, other organisms and other spatial and temporal scales. It cuts across the traditional division between community ecology and ecosystem ecology, and announces a new ecological synthesis in which the dynamics of biological diversity and the biogeochemical functioning of the earth system are merged.

Biodiversity: Social and Ecological Perspectives

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Biodiversity: Social and Ecological Perspectives
Vandana Shiva , Patrick Anderson , Heffa Schucking , and Andrew Gray
Manufacturer: Zed Books
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Binding: Paperback

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Biodiversity and Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

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Biodiversity and Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Manufacturer: ATF Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 192069126X

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At the beginning of the twenty-first century there is little agreement about how to tackle problems relating to the environment and the increasing loss of biodiversity in many parts of the world, including Australia. There is little dispute, however, at the present time that our planet does face a number of very significant ecological crises, and that loss of biodiversity is occurring in both agricultural and wilderness areas. Gone also is the complacency that these issues do not affect human life, or at least not the people living in our own particular region. The following issues and topics are examined: biblical understanding of ecology and biodiversity, interfaith perspectives, Christian, Jewish and Islamic understandings of biodiversity, as well as a philosophical issues and a theology of technology.

Contributors include: Celia Deane-Drummond, UK, editor of the journal entitled Ecology, Norm Habel, series editor of the Earth bible Series, Shefield Press, and Denis Edwards.

Biodiversity and Savanna Ecosystem Processes : A Global Perspective (Ecological Studies, Vol 121).

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Biodiversity and Savanna Ecosystem Processes : A Global Perspective (Ecological Studies, Vol 121).
Otto Thomas Solbrig , E. Medina , and J. F. Silva
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Savannas are the most widespread ecosystem in the tropics and as such are subjected to great human pressure that may result in massive soil degradation. The book addresses the role of species in the function of savanna ecosystems. It is shown that savannas are enormously diverse and that four factors determine the function of savanna ecosystems: Plant Available Moisture; Plant Available Nutrients; Fire; Herbivores.

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Biodiversity: An Ecological Perspective

Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387947027

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Despite acknowledgment that loss of living diversity is an international biological crisis, the ecological causes and consequences of extinction have not yet been widely addressed. In honor of Edward O. Wilson, winner of the 1993 International Prize for Biology, an international group of distinguished biologists bring ecological, evolutionary, and management perspectives to the issue of biodiversity. The roles of ecosystem processes, community structure and population dynamics are considered in this book. The goal, as Wilson writes in his introduction, is "to assemble concepts that unite the disciplines of systematics and ecology, and in so doing to create a sound scientific basis for the future management of biodiversity."

Biodiversity : Social and Ecological Perspective

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Biodiversity : Social and Ecological Perspective
Vandana Shiva
Manufacturer: Natraj Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 8185019231

Biodiversity: Social & Ecological Perspectives

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Biodiversity: Social & Ecological Perspectives
Patrick Anderson , and Heffa Schucking
Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The success of a genetic algorithm when applied to an optimization problem depends upon several features present or absent in the problem to be solved, including the quality of the encoding of data, the geometric structure of the search space, deception or epistasis. This book deals essentially with the latter notion, presenting for the first time a complete state-of-the-art research on this notion, in a structured completely self-contained and methodical way.

In particular, it contains a refresher on the linear algebra used in the text as well as an elementary introductory chapter on genetic algorithms aimed at readers unacquainted with this notion.

In this way, the monograph aims to serve a broad audience consisting of graduate and advanced undergraduate students in mathematics and computer science, as well as researchers working in the domains of optimization, artificial intelligence, theoretical computer science, combinatorics and evolutionary algorithms.

Book Description

Old Angel Midnight (1959) was one result of Kerouac's automatic writing experiments in which he would spill his chemically inspired thoughts onto paper to see what came out. Though Kerouac was initially denounced by literary critics as an oddball, his spontaneous twistings and turnings of language rate well with those of Joyce and Stein, and time has proven him to be an important and enduringly popular American writer.-Library Review

Customer Reviews:

Brilliance unencumbered by usefulness.......2005-01-23

Man, this is a hard slog. This is truly a work of spontaneous prose and you quickly realize this as you try to follow any path of sensible thought until you get to the point where you realize `It's not there'. This is not the written sounds of anything that flowed through Kerouac's midnight window, as he has you believe in a letter to a friend. I have never heard anything like that anywhere through any window of my life. This is purely Kerouac's mind at play with words as they pop into his thoughts. There are some beautiful subtle fragments to be found in this work, mixed in with, phew, with umm, all sorts of stuff. It's a potpourri of poetry written upon the meditation of his own mind & quite often very funny. I believe he succeeded in what he set out to do, but that outcome by its nature is not something appealing to most people. Only a hard core Kerouac fan could truly love this book. I read it in one hit. Perhaps the secret is to pick it up & read stanzas at a time, over time. It's very interesting, means nothing, demands concentration & leaves you scratching your head. I liked it but could love it with time. I'd give it five stars for its brilliance & inventiveness but its inaccessibility can only grant it four.

read it outloud.......2000-05-26

This book is about the time the author just sits in his lonely shack and listens to the sounds around.I guess if you just sit and listen intendly right now to all the sounds coming into your universe you will get the message jack was trying to put across. The best way to read this book is to read a section at a time out loud to someone. The result is quite magical. The words somehow all become clear and the visions and situations become real. This is not an easy book to comprehend in the normal manner of a read but hey delve in deep and it becomes a cosmic comet in the universe of your mind.

Big Table 1 (The Complete Contents of the Suppressed Winter 1959 Chicago Review, Number 1 Spring 1959)

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Big Table 1 (The Complete Contents of the Suppressed Winter 1959 Chicago Review, Number 1 Spring 1959)

Manufacturer: The Profile Press of New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000BJKTQU

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Old Angel Midnight

Manufacturer: Grey Fox Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Old Angel Midnight

Manufacturer: Grey Fox Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GK6EC2

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[News release]: For: Big table
Barbara Siegel
Manufacturer: [s.n
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Old Angel Midnight in "Big Table 1" (publication)

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Old Angel Midnight in "Big Table 1" (publication)
Jack) (KEROUAC
Manufacturer: Big Table
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ILNHII

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