Starting a new school is really hard, I’ve started a new school and it was a big challenge, admittedly I was a little older than Francesca and I didn’t have her more major challenges of going from an all girls school to a boys school just starting to accept girls and I also didn’t have a mother suffering a bout of acute depression.

Francesca comes into her own in this book, she finds friends who look after her and help her through the bad times, also making the person she really is come out again, redefining the word ‘friendship’ for her.

I love Marchetta’s books. They are an excellent snapshot of teenage life. She shows you the problem and shows you how the teenager solves it. Her characters have real heart, mind and soul and this shows through in her writing. The fact they’ve been on the school reading list is a good indicator of an important book that’s been written well and I totally echo this fact.

There are times when telling the truth and standing up for yourself and others is really important. One instance in this book is when Francesca talks to the drama teacher about the production he’s planning on staging. Henry IV has only one good female role model who can’t even speak English and the teacher has obviously not thought about casting the girls in the class so Francesca speaks up and tells him this also indicating Macbeth is better as there are the witches and Lady Macbeth so more scope for female casting and they’re better parts. They make a deal that if she doesn’t wow him in Macbeth auditions then they’ll do Henry IV and she gets to play the Welsh girl with no English. It works and she’s cast as Lady Macbeth. This is a win on two accounts, the first is a win for her personally, not just for getting a really meaty onstage part for she understands how to negotiate and that telling the truth can be a really good thing but also it gives the female students a buzz as it shows they’re being listened to and life in a previously all boys school is changing. When you’re leading the way things can seem hard and this is a win for them.

Her new friend, Jimmy, teaches them all a few things. Francesca’s mother is a fantasy expert and is meant to be writing a paper on it but when you’re acutely depressed it’s hard to do anything let alone write an inspired paper. Jimmy is also interested in fantasy and when he comes in she’s trying to write, all of a sudden he’s sitting there talking to her about it and this is the first time she’s talked in months. Some days or weeks later he has her laughing which changes how she feels about Jimmy, he’s still a friend but she forgives him a lot because of this. Her Dad still doesn’t like him and I’m not sure why, maybe because he doesn’t trust Jimmy with Francesca or because Jimmy is doing better at getting a response out of Mia than him.

If your teenager hasn’t read her books and they’re not on the book list for school don’t make them read them but just leave them lying around and hope they pick them up. These books are really important as they show how people can grow from their experiences, they show really strong characters and they do this in a much shorter time frame than normally happens so it doesn’t drag out into a really long book. Marchetta’s books are readable and understandable, also important is that they’re Australian and contemporary something we don’t see enough of.