Jellicoe Road

Melina Marchetta

Apr 2010 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award * ALA Best Book for Young Adults * Kirkus Best Book

Jellicoe Road is a dazzling tale that is part love story, part family drama, and part coming-of-age novel. Described by Kirkus as “a beautifully rendered mystery” and by VOYA as “a great choice for more sophisticated readers and those teens who like multifaceted stories and characters.”

Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn't a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs, the boy who might be the key to unlocking the secrets for Taylor’s past, is back in town, moody stares and all.

In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her; Hannah finding her; Hannah’s sudden departure; a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear; a boy in her dreams; five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago; and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does.

If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she just might be able to change her future.

Ratings and reviews

It took me awhile to figure out what was going on in this book. There are related stories from the past and present being told at the same time. Also, the present has a lot of different aspects. It all connects and wraps up beautifully. Even though it wasn’t immediate love, since it took a bit for all the details to connect for me, I ending this story loving it.

On chapter 14 I can only see the half top of the line at the bottom of the pages. If it were a hard copy book, I would return the book and demand my money being returned. The novel is great tho. I didn't rate it for the novel, more for the eBook that Google sell. My rating of the book would be on my Goodreads account.

As good a book on its second reading as it was on its first. In fact, having read this the first time when I was in high school, still a bairn in the eyes of the world, I think I better understand now the emotional and mental weight of this book, while being blessedly unaware of the exact weight of the characters' experiences. While I cannot fully relate to many of the tales in this book, listening to Taylor as Griggs "What if I don't exist," has far more depth to me now in my 23rd year than my 16 year-old mind had the experience to imagine. A truly brilliant novel, with immersive and complex characters, that, should I ever meet her, I'm of a mind to thank Ms. Marchetta for writing. When I read a book, and have closed the last chapter, and left the world so carefully crafted within, a part of that book lingers with me: a good book in my mind, a great book in my heart. But somehow, and someway, I think, and hope, that Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta will linger on in both. Tioraidh.

About the author

Melina Marchetta lives in Sydney. She is also the author of the award-winning novels Saving Francesca, Looking For Alibrandi, and Finnikin of the Rock. Looking For Alibrandi was released as a major Australian film.