Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Saving Francesca is about a girl in high school who goes to St. Sebastians a former boy's school that has only a few other girls in it. All of her other friends go to Pius Senior College, but her mother wouldn't let her go there.  There are no girls who she is similar to or is friends with. And other than one boy named Will, none of the boys are interesting to her. And in her home life her mother is depressed. Francesca doesn't feel like she has anyone to relate to and she feels really alone. The book is set in Australia so the general culture is sort of different. I thought that the plot was really good and you really like the main character. If the story sounds interesting than I would recommend this book.
Over winter break I may read Looking for Alibrandi, another book by the same author. I also wanted to read See You At Harrys so those are the books I may read.

Slice of Life

My backpack feels like it is full of bricks. I carry a bag, my lunchbox, a jacket and shoes. I fumble my way in to the seat, and drop it all beneath me, sighing. I buckle my seatbelt as the car starts to roll along. The roads are icy, but not dangerous. Music from the radio quietly plays as we turn on to Colfax. We speed up, and I know that I will not be late. When I do show up, I am not late. I gather my things and walk in to the school. The classroom is quiet and empty when I walk in. I grab my binder and head to the Spanish classroom.

Eight Keys by Suzanne La Fleur

Eight Keys is about a 12 year old girl named Elise who lives with her Aunt and Uncle. But one year  everything in her life started to fall apart. That year she finds a key with her name on it in her uncle's workshop. After finding the first key, she finds more that lead her on an adventure that shows her more about her family and her past. Some parts of this book were somewhat interesting, but I did not like it overall. I thought it was kind of boring, so I would not recommend it.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart is a historical fiction book. The main character is named Okonkwo and it is a story about his family and his life. He lives in a town called Umuofia, in Nigeria.  He starts to really like Ikemefuna. One thing that I really liked about this book was that it showed a lot of examples of a different culture. One week in the story is called the sacred week, which is supposed to be very peaceful, but Okonkwo broke the peace, and got a bad reputation in his community. But he was still very powerful  Okonkwo got another son from a different village. His name was Ikemefuna, and Okonkwo really came to like him. But three years later Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna as a sacrifice. There are a lot of things like this that happen in the book. I think that Things Fall Apart was a good book, but the plot was a little bit confusing and unclear. I would maybe recommend this book.
For the next book group I would like to read a historical fiction or non fiction book because those are types of books that I do not read a lot of, but I have liked those books when I read them before.