BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marchetta, Melina. 2006. Jellicoe Road. New York : HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061431845.
PLOT SUMMARY
Five people die in a car accident on the Jellicoe Road. Three kids survive, another saves them and they embrace one more. This crew will be friends for as long as they live. Taylor Markham's mother left her at the 7-11 on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven years old and she has no idea where she comes from. A novel of self discovery and friendship; two stories from the past and present bring together bonds of history- shared love, grief, secrets, truth and forgiveness- at the school on Jellicoe Road.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This novel is really two stories set in a rural Australian boarding school: about a girl struggling to find her peace, and about a group of teenagers 20 years in the past whose friendship shaped her history. The ending is suddenly intense, with happy and painful moments crushed together so that you don’t know whether to cry or laugh. At its heart, this a story about how friendships born from grief can last a lifetime.
Taylor Markham is the hesitant leader of the school in the traditional territory wars between the Jellicoe School students (led by Taylor), the Townies (led by Chaz Santangelo), and the Cadets (led by Jonah Griggs), who come in for six weeks from the city. Taylor is lost in herself; she struggles with leading the school, her missing mother, the disappearance of Hannah, a serial killer on the loose, and general teenage angst. When Hannah suddenly goes away, Taylor comes undone in her despair. She finds some solace in Hannah's house reading her unfinished manuscript which slowly reveals the story of Taylor’s mysterious past. Only Jonah, the boy that is getting under her skin through her heart, and the support from her wards will bring her out of her head and strengthen her resolve to find her own peace.
Hannah's manuscript brings the past into Taylor’s present with the story of five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road: Tate, Narnie, Webb, Fitz, and Jude. A terrible accident brings these five together with a bond to outlast life and death. They begin the territory wars, built the clubhouse, carve their story in the Prayer Tree, and share the horrible secret. Not all of them grow up, and those that do have issues. But the survivors carry their love for each other through all sorts of trial and tribulation, till the bitter end.
The first 150 pages are confusing and disjointed -just like a disturbed teenage girl’s mind. It seems to be all about the war games and poor Taylor’s abandonment issues -except for the insertion of a seemingly unconnected plotline which I originally thought was about Talyor’s schoolmates. One moment Taylor’s drowning a cat with her bare hands and the next moment she’s fallen for her worst rival. Then suddenly the characters change altogether and there’s depression, suicide, and melodramatics from the past. There’s a boy in her dreams that spooks her but she worries when the he doesn’t appear even though she’s avoided sleep to miss him. I nearly quit this book for all the whining self-absorbed teenage ick.
The juxtaposition between Taylor’s narrative and Hanna’s story is a very clever idea and ultimately made an awesome journey out of a mediocre coming of age novel. The lack of transition between stories made it difficult to keep up, even sometimes they felt like the same characters. The character development is sporadic and most of the connections are not clear until the very last chapters. Once the pieces began to fit together though, I had a hard time putting the novel down. Slowly the characters become surprisingly real and it’s hard not to be swallowed by their raw and vivid emotions. I felt what the characters felt: joy, sadness, hope, despair, happiness, and belonging. Taylor and her friends are different people at the beginning and the end of the book. They seem to forget about the territory wars and fall in love with one another, run away, and collaborate on solving the mystery of Taylor’s life. Each character is changed by the past in some way. In the end, Taylor is no longer the manic-depressed girl forced to lead her school, but a confident young woman who’s found her home, her family, and peace in her soul.
I laughed, I cried, I held my breath; I even forgot the rambling beginning as I read well into the night –hooked in Marchetta’s fierce storytelling. If you can stand the beginning, it’s well worth it to keep reading.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This novel is really two stories set in a rural Australian boarding school: about a girl struggling to find her peace, and about a group of teenagers 20 years in the past whose friendship shaped her history. The ending is suddenly intense, with happy and painful moments crushed together so that you don’t know whether to cry or laugh. At its heart, this a story about how friendships born from grief can last a lifetime.
Taylor Markham is the hesitant leader of the school in the traditional territory wars between the Jellicoe School students (led by Taylor), the Townies (led by Chaz Santangelo), and the Cadets (led by Jonah Griggs), who come in for six weeks from the city. Taylor is lost in herself; she struggles with leading the school, her missing mother, the disappearance of Hannah, a serial killer on the loose, and general teenage angst. When Hannah suddenly goes away, Taylor comes undone in her despair. She finds some solace in Hannah's house reading her unfinished manuscript which slowly reveals the story of Taylor’s mysterious past. Only Jonah, the boy that is getting under her skin through her heart, and the support from her wards will bring her out of her head and strengthen her resolve to find her own peace.
Hannah's manuscript brings the past into Taylor’s present with the story of five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road: Tate, Narnie, Webb, Fitz, and Jude. A terrible accident brings these five together with a bond to outlast life and death. They begin the territory wars, built the clubhouse, carve their story in the Prayer Tree, and share the horrible secret. Not all of them grow up, and those that do have issues. But the survivors carry their love for each other through all sorts of trial and tribulation, till the bitter end.
The first 150 pages are confusing and disjointed -just like a disturbed teenage girl’s mind. It seems to be all about the war games and poor Taylor’s abandonment issues -except for the insertion of a seemingly unconnected plotline which I originally thought was about Talyor’s schoolmates. One moment Taylor’s drowning a cat with her bare hands and the next moment she’s fallen for her worst rival. Then suddenly the characters change altogether and there’s depression, suicide, and melodramatics from the past. There’s a boy in her dreams that spooks her but she worries when the he doesn’t appear even though she’s avoided sleep to miss him. I nearly quit this book for all the whining self-absorbed teenage ick.
The juxtaposition between Taylor’s narrative and Hanna’s story is a very clever idea and ultimately made an awesome journey out of a mediocre coming of age novel. The lack of transition between stories made it difficult to keep up, even sometimes they felt like the same characters. The character development is sporadic and most of the connections are not clear until the very last chapters. Once the pieces began to fit together though, I had a hard time putting the novel down. Slowly the characters become surprisingly real and it’s hard not to be swallowed by their raw and vivid emotions. I felt what the characters felt: joy, sadness, hope, despair, happiness, and belonging. Taylor and her friends are different people at the beginning and the end of the book. They seem to forget about the territory wars and fall in love with one another, run away, and collaborate on solving the mystery of Taylor’s life. Each character is changed by the past in some way. In the end, Taylor is no longer the manic-depressed girl forced to lead her school, but a confident young woman who’s found her home, her family, and peace in her soul.
I laughed, I cried, I held my breath; I even forgot the rambling beginning as I read well into the night –hooked in Marchetta’s fierce storytelling. If you can stand the beginning, it’s well worth it to keep reading.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
"Melina Marchetta has a knack for writing stories that swallow you up and refuse to let you go until you’ve read every last word....Marchetta is a master at creating intriguing characters and her stories are heartfelt." -Sydney Morning Herald on JELLICOE ROAD
"Two tragic stories--one past, one present--come together in this carefully constructed novel set in the Australian bush. Despite grief piled on grief in the personal histories of the characters, they are all firmly bound by friendship and love. Suspenseful plotting, slowly unraveling mysteries, and generations of romance shape the absorbing novel." -The Horn Book
AWARDS FOR JELLICOE ROAD
Michael L. Printz Award
Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
"Two tragic stories--one past, one present--come together in this carefully constructed novel set in the Australian bush. Despite grief piled on grief in the personal histories of the characters, they are all firmly bound by friendship and love. Suspenseful plotting, slowly unraveling mysteries, and generations of romance shape the absorbing novel." -The Horn Book
AWARDS FOR JELLICOE ROAD
Michael L. Printz Award
Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
CONNECTIONS
The disordered plotlines provide an opportunity to teach notetaking and diagramming to older students. As they read the novel, have them take notes on the character relationships, story lines, or even to track the clues that bring the two sagas together.
Marchetta repeatedly refers to the 1980’s (the setting for Hannah’s story) as being far in the past. What do the eighties mean to us now? How to modern students view that era, the music and culture from 20 years ago?
This novel broaches the tender subject of teenage emotions: suicide.grief. loneliness.etc. How can students relate? Offer a journal exercise to help them define their own emotions.
If teaching a geography module on Australia, try to connect the culture for the students by providing a selection of realistic-fiction novels set there. Talk about the diversity of language and lifestyle present across the continent. How do the students relate to Aussie perspective as compared with their own native culture?
1 comment:
I love your review! Here's mine if you don't mind: http://lorxiebookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/09/jellicoe-road-by-melina-marchetta.html
Thanks and have a nice day! =D
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