Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

4 stars -- I like it.

Why is it that Australians just seem to know how to write engaging, realistic, touching teen fiction? Looking for Alibrandi is a wonderful story and deserves the many awards it's won in Australia.

Josephine Alibrandi is a 17-year-old Australian of Italian descent (her grandmother grew up in Italy). Too Australian for her relatives and too Italian for her peers, Josie also has to deal with the stigma of being born of wedlock and never having met her father.

Josie is an all-too-realistic teen with mood swings and confusing desires. She wants to date John Barton, the rich and good-looking soon-to-be lawyer, but she's also attracted to Jacob Coote, a poorer but hardworking mechanic-wanna-be who used to bully her when she was little. She hates her overbearing and unloving grandmother but wants to hear her stories. She doesn't want to be discriminated against for being Italian, but she doesn't want to her background to be overlooked.

Her life gets even more confusing when her absent father reappears on the scene just as her mother starts dating again.

This was a really lovely story that I really hope you will read. It's believable and realistic. There's heartache, heartbreak, passion, horror, and honesty. There're skeletons in the closet, embarrassing family members and traditions, and secrets to be discovered.

I really love how Josie's relationships with, well, everyone mature as the story is told. From her mother and grandmother to her father, from her best friends to her arch-nemesis, from boy friend to boyfriend, there is genuine and real character development to be found in this story.

So go out and ready it :)

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

5 stars -- I loved it

This book is amazing (I admit... it made me cry for a bit). It helps, of course, that it takes place in Australia, but Saving Francesca surpassed my expectations.

When my husband saw the title, his first question was, "What does Francesca need saving from?" It's a tricky question to answer in the beginning. There are so many real and serious issues Francis is facing. Her normally upbeat and pushy mother refuses to leave her bed; she has just started at a new school -- an all boys' school, but for thirty girls recently admitted; none of her friends are among the thirty girls at her school, and for a girl of 16 years, that can be huge; and the boy she likes kisses her, but then admits he has a girlfriend. It's easy to think that Francesca needs saving from her mother, her family, her school, her friends, even herself, but I'll let you read it to find out which it really is.

Depression is difficult and hurtful, and Melina Marchetta handled the issue nicely. She even brings it to a satisfactory conclusion, and it's completely believable.

The main character, Francesca, is a perfectly believable female teenager, and her angst is understandable and even mostly explainable -- although sometimes it's not. Francis admits to being angry at her dad for no reason she can find.

Overall, I highly recommend you read this book. It's simple but amazing.