On the Jellicoe Road

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These people have history and I crave history. I crave someone knowing me so well that they can tell what I'm thinking.” And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother- who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road." On the Jellicoe Road has been included on several lists of recommended reading for young adults, including: By the time I began to piece some things together, I had already missed so many of the "connections" and details that it was kind of pointless. When the big reveals came toward the end, they were kind of meaningless to me. I never really connected with the characters or the storyline. I had simply missed too much to play catch-up at that point. The Chew Toy: Ben, who's constantly belittled and abused by the House captains, when he isn't getting beaten up by the Cadets.

Towards the beginning, Taylor reflects on how many screw-ups are in her hall, saying they have three pyromaniacs and it's only a matter of time until they're all burned to death in their beds. In the end it's an electrical fire, and everybody survives, but it still counts as foreshadowing. Rule of Drama: The two cars containing Webb's and Narnie's parents, and Tate's parents and sister survive more than two hours after the collision and wait patiently for Fitz to pull all the survivors and the bodies out of both cars ... and then explode spectacularly a mere minute after the last person gets clear. Accomodation includes ground floor with modern kitchen, a pleasant reception room, guest Wc and a conservatory which leads to the well kept 49ft approx private garden. The floor floor occupies three bedrooms all of which are well proportioned and nicely decorated, there is also a family bathroom.And she was. It ties up beautifully in the end, and there's a scene which even made me shed a tear -- me, who has not cried since THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (three tears) and while writing my second novel SHIVER (one tear from each eye) -- and I'm left feeling just about cheerful about everything in the book though it was not a Hollywood happy ending by any stretch.

On the Jellicoe Road is a young adult novel by Melina Marchetta, published in 2006. It tells the story of seventeen-year-old Taylor Markham, who is a resident at the Jellicoe School and the leader of the school’s boarders. The story follows Taylor as she tries to uncover the mystery of her mother’s disappearance and her own past, while also dealing with the rivalries and relationships among the various factions at the school. One of the more interesting aspects of the novel is the creation, by Narnie, Webb, Tate, and Fitz, of the territory wars. Though ostensibly invented out of boredom, the wars are actually a coping mechanism to deal with the sudden, violent death of their parents. As the origin of the wars becomes forgotten over time, the territorial struggle, initially a game, turns more serious and, as in William Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954), the children become more cruel to their opponents. A key piece of the puzzle relating to the wars is a tunnel that is discussed in Hannah's writings: “‘I'm all for the tunnel. It could save our life one day,’ Tate said. ‘We could be chased by evil and have to hide down there’” (232). This foreshadows an event in the present when the tunnel, almost forgotten over time, serves as a refuge from a fire.The boy likes to hear Taylor's stories about living at the Jellicoe School, especially the school's war with the Townies and the Cadets from the Sydney military school. The writing in this story is captivating as it flows methodically from one vivid scene to the next. Taylor's character, as broken as she appears, is actually quite funny in a dry and witty, sarcastic sense - which is my favorite type of humor. I appreciated being able to smile and laugh in the midst of such angst-ridden scenarios.

As always, it is hard for me to explain what I like about a 5-star book, but I'll try. Melina Marchetta draws characters that are deep, complex, and real. The relationships among them are touching - more than anything I think, this book is about the power of friendship and, boy, there are some magnificent examples of friendship in this book! The book is also about grief, guilt, forgiveness and, of course, love. Along with Jonah, who's pretty much her boyfriend by this point, Taylor travels to Sydney in search of her mother, only to discover that her mom is dying as a result of complications of drug addiction. Their journey also connects them with Jonah's military commander, Jude Scanlon, who was part of the alliance formed after the car accident. Putting the pieces together, Taylor comes to realize that the five kids of the past created the territory wars not as a tool for division, but as a game for the friends to play to make life more interesting. This roller coaster ride of a novel grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't let go. You may not be sure where the ride will take you, but every detail - from the complexities of the dual narrative to the pangs of first love - is pitch perfect. Mary Arnold, Michael L. Printz Award Committee Chair, American Library Association I think quite possibly my absolute favorite thing that Marchetta does is the character reversal. She introduces a character which we view in a terrible light because the main character views them in a terrible light, and then she completely changes our mind about them in a subtle and realistic way throughout the book until finally we and the main character are in love. She did this in SAVING FRANCESCA and she pulled it off again in JELLICOE ROAD even though I was watching for it. By the time we get the first kiss in the novel, I was sort of clapping embarrassingly like a seal. I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12 - Jesus, did you?" This quote belongs to Stephen King, but it describes the soul of Melina Marchetta's Jellicoe Road perfectly.Overall, this ended up being a middle of the road story for me. I do suspect that I'm not doing this story justice though. I was just too lost for most of the book to take much away from the experience this time around.

Chris Carr (left) and Ian Hacon, owners of Zaks, at the Yankee Traveller in Great Yarmouth (Image: Denise Bradley/Archant 2022) I spent hours trying to figure out who the characters were and what the hell was going on. The transitions between characters and time frames was not always obvious, making matters even worse. I must have been hours into the story before I figured out that there were actually two stories playing out -- one in the present and one in the past. Needless to say, I lost a lot of time being utterly confused and unaware of what was going on. So far six skips of rubbish have been filled, and work is underway to repair a hole in the flat roof. I'm going to end this review here for two reasons: 1) I believe this is the type of book that should be experienced first hand, without much knowledge of the story going in. So, go read it and remember, the beginning is confusing, but plow through it and I promise you won't regret it; 2) I'm tearing up thinking about this story and its characters, so all you'll be getting from me is the aforesaid and this: I love this book and I'm anticipating the day when I can read it again. I highly recommend Jellicoe Road to everyone. A brilliant novel by the best-selling author of Looking for Alibrandi. Winner of the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature in 2009.Taylor Markham is not a popular choice. She is erratic, has no people skills and never turns up to meetings. Not to mention the incident when she ran off in search of her mother and only got halfway there. But she's lived at Jellicoe School most of her life and as leader of the boarders that's her greatest asset. Especially now the cadets, led by the infamous Jonah Griggs, have arrived. The territory wars between the boarders, townies and cadets are about to recommence. The Iron Duke was the work of the architect Arthur W Ecclestone, who designed a number of pubs both before and after the Second World War. This is Marchetta's most sophisticated novel; it opens cryptically and is imbued with subtle mystery that crisply unfolds in uncluttered, evocative prose ... The Australian