Jellicoe Road

By: Melina Marchetta
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publish Date: 2006
ISBN: 9780061431852

Plot:
Seventeen year old Taylor Markham is an angry, confused, and lost teenager sent to a boarding school in Australia when her mother abandoned her at the age of eleven. Taylor has the typical "I don't care" attitude about everybody and everything, except for a few people she allows in her life and who know her best. When Taylor is chosen as the lead in the annual "territory war games" her life begins to open up when she confronts additional leaders who know more about her past than she can even remember in her memories.

Critical Analysis:
The beginning book opens with an introduction to the anger and frustration of the lead character, Taylor Markham. Taylor lives her life as she pleases and does not think of others nor does she apologize for the way she lives. Self pity and loathing, typical of most teens, she begins on a journey of her past, ready to understand why those closest to her always leave and abandon her. Along the way she develops friends, love, and compassion.
At first, I was not interested in this book as it is your typical angry and lost teenager, which I have forgotten is common at seventeen. However, as the friendships begin to develop, and the "territory war games" falter, the reader begins to understand the complexity of each character and is introduced to their pain and suffering underneath which actually connects the four primary characters to one another in the end.
The other unique and commonality, is the happenstance of the original five, which include Taylor's mother and father, both gone at the end, but the link they have transposes down to a second generation including Taylor and her new friends.


Awards/Reviews:
Booklist (November 1, 2008)
.... 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 backstory will be offputting to younger readers, but those who stick it out will find rewards in the heartbreaking twists of Marchetta’s saga.

Kirkus Review starred (August 1, 2008)
Readers may feel dizzied and disoriented, but as they puzzle out exactly how Hannah's narrative connects with Taylor's current reality, they will find themselves ensnared in the story's fascinating, intricate structure. A beautifully rendered mystery

Curriculum Connections:
Best suited for upper secondary students, who would benefit from a book talk subject of anger, confusion, and loss of direction in a young person's life.