Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

I actually read this book quite a while ago, when it came out, in 2004. It is Australian, so there are some cultural differences, but I don't think they are anything you can't move past. This is the story of Francesca who is starting her junior year of high school. She is starting at a new school - a boy's school that just went co-ed. There are very few girls attending and the boys aren't very excited to see them. She's met a boy she thinks could be "the one" but he has a girlfriend already and is sending very mixed signals. On top of this, her mother, who has always been the rock of the family, is taken by depression and can't make it out of bed most days. Between all of this, Francesca is making great friends at school and has the lead in the school play.
This was a book I couldn't stop thinking about. Even when I wasn't reading it, I found myself thinking about the characters and the story. It was very realistic, seeming like something a teenage girl would actually go through. Because everyone's life gets a little complicated sometimes.