Jellicoe Road

Bibliography

Marchetta, Melina. 2006. JELLICOE ROAD. New York: Harper Teen. ISBN 9780061431845.

Plot Summary

“My name is Taylor Markham. I live on the Jellicoe Road.” Seventeen year old Taylor Markham is a student at the Jellicoe school, and has been struggling with her family identity since her mother dropped her at a seven eleven when she was eleven. Hannah has been Taylor’s caregiver all these years, but has never let her as close as she’d like, or revealed information about their connection. Taylor struggles through the “Territory Wars” with the area Cadets in for a few months, and the local Townies, and throughout the process forms the first real friendships of her life, and uncovers the mystery of her family and the mysterious Brigadier that is always swooping in to save her.

Critical Analysis

Marchetta pulls the reader into Taylors struggles and accomplishments as she faces her demons and uncovers the truth about her family, and her mother’s issues. The writing style is fluid and adds to the setting, as Australian lingo and terminology is utilized throughout the text. The Jellicoe road is settled in the Australian bush country, and this setting serves as an important facet of the plot line, as the characters make their way through the outlands during the territory wars. The style once understood, is of much importance in the story line. Excerpts from Hannah’s Manuscript also serve as flashbacks to the time when it all began. Taylor transforms from a harsh, complicated young girl, into a caring, unjaded young woman in this complex, mature young adult novel.

Review Excerpt

Booklist- “nearly every relationship in Taylor’s life has unexpected ties to her past, and the continual series of revelations is both the book’s strength and weakness; the melodrama can be trying, but when Marchetta isn’t forcing epiphanies, she has a knack for nuanced characterizations and punchy dialogue. The complexity of the back story will be off-putting to younger readers, but those who stick it out will find rewards in the heartbreaking twists of Marchetta’s saga.”

Connections

*Other books by Melina Marchetta
SAVING FRANCESCA. ISBN 0375829830.
LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI. ISBN 0375836942.
*Have students explore the Australian bush country on the map to better understand the surroundings of the Jellicoe school.
* Student’s could create their own “Little Purple Book” of rules for the territory wars, and illustrate maps of the Jellicoe school and the surrounding areas.