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Melina Marchetta

Looking for Alibrandi Paperback – 9 May 2006

by Melina Marchetta (Author)

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For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it's just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it's her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn't be any stricter--but that doesn't seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.

Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family's past--and the year she sets herself free.

Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel--which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture--is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember.

Reading age

12 - 17 years
Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Grade level

7 - 12
Dimensions

13.34 x 1.73 x 20.32 cm
Publisher

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date

9 May 2006
ISBN-10

0375836942
ISBN-13

978-0375836947
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Product description

About the Author

Melina Marchetta lives in Sydney, Australia, where she is a teacher. She is also the author of Printz-winning Jellicoe Road, as well as Saving Francesca and Finnikin of the Rock.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers (9 May 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375836942
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375836947
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 - 17 years
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.34 x 1.73 x 20.32 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 620,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 198 in Fiction About Multigenerational Families for Young Adults
- 331 in Fiction About New Experiences for Young Adults
- 579 in Fiction About Parents for Young Adults

Customer Reviews:
96 ratings

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Melina Marchetta

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Melina Marchetta (born 25 March 1965) is an Australian writer and teacher. Melina is best known as the author of novels, Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca and On the Jellicoe Road. She has twice been awarded the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers, in 1993 and 2004. For Jellicoe Road she won the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, recognising the year's best book for young adults. Marchetta holds a name for being one of the more prominent Australian Authors of present time in Young-Adult Fiction.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo from Goodreads.

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4 star		30%
3 star		9%
2 star		2%
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Top reviews from Australia

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Nicholas Reid

A great novel

Reviewed in Australia on 30 July 2021

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I had to teach this one, and thought it was going to be 'worthy' if predictable. But it's actually a great novel, and should be read by young and old.

Reviewed in Australia on 22 May 2018

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I'm so pleased I read this book...So much an Australian experience. Recognised the places and the people. Congratulations to the author.

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Andrea Simpson

My daughter needed this for school

Reviewed in Australia on 23 May 2021

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I liked the book

Reviewed in Australia on 17 June 2015

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One of the best books I have ever read. Read it nearly every two years

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A wonderfully thought provoking novel

Reviewed in Australia on 28 July 2015

Loved it!

Quotes I like from this book:

"It's an embarrassing contradiction when your mother gets pregnant out of wedlock because her Catholic upbringing prohibits contraception."

Lovable yet complex characters reveal a good portrait of the culture of 1950's Australia.

Australia was still so young and naive .... so ignorant and brash, like a pubescent teenager fumbling towards a maturity it doesn't yet comprehend.
The influx of immigrants bringing with them a confusion of fascination and fear. Their need to cling to the familiar...their own, somehow brought about a need in Australians to do likewise, each unwittingly fostering glaring cultural divides as they each vie and jostle for recognition and acknowledgement.
The irony was that they each felt alienated and threatened by the very same perceptions they had of one another.

Josephine Alibrandi is an Australian born of Italian descent, she is seventeen years old and lives with her mother who has raised her as a single parent...much to the chagrin of her own mother and her extended Italian family.
Being Italians they nurture strong principles when it comes to family and moral virtues, and Josephine's mother suffered a long and hard fall from grace when she fell pregnant out of wedlock and made the decision to keep her child.
Not only was her mother ostracized forever more by family and friends, but Josephine herself suffered throughout her childhood and teens from the cruel taunts of others, ranging from her fatherless upbringing to her Italian blood and her Australian birth, she struggled to find her niche.
Although Josephine carried the burden of these realities, she maintained a good sense of humour and a feisty disposition as she struggled with the pressures associated with coming of age.

With her HSC looming large and relationships with her family, teachers and even friends being stretched taut, Josephine was feeling the pressure of growing up and leaving her innocence behind.
If she thought life was already difficult enough, she was in for a real learning curve as life began to throw some very testing challenges in her way.
Josephine was about to grow up.

I loved this book, it is about contradictions, about how we perceive life, each other, values, things, and the consequences of our perceptions.

~This book made me think.
Do we ever truly understand anything? Providing things are fairly constant, we accept things as we understand them, and learn the ways to live with that understanding.
Then something happens one day which challenges those beliefs, or disproves them altogether, and totally throws us off kilter, literally erasing everything we believed and understood to be real...forcing us to re-evaluate our lives and everything that has shaped us...
And yet, if we had not made that discovery, what then? Do we ever truly understand anything? If we identify the lies we are forced to acknowledge them and are necessarily changed by that, but if we never identify the lies...does that mean they don't matter?
"Oh what a tangled web we weave"!

We so complicate things in our fervent desire for acceptance, and sell ourselves short in an effort to attain some intangible sort of (fake) nirvana, because we want to feel necessary.

I haven't come to any conclusions on my questions, but I am reminded of this favourite saying:
"All my life I wanted to be somebody
--only to discover that I am"

I can see why this book is a favourite in schools. I would definitely recommend it to all teenagers as well as adults.

I originally gave this 4★s but decided to change that to 5★s because it made me think, and laugh, and cry, and think some more.

Reviewed in Australia on 14 August 2015

Although I am not Italian, I did grow up in a Biracial home.
The kids at school were so cruel and they were so ignorant, One such student telling me infront of our class that Her parents, sister and herself all "hate coloured people". I was always awkward about it and found it hard to deal with it even though my unique features are something that are hightly sort after these days, When I first read this book it was like Every thing I had experienced and faced in this book turned film. Until this day, I love This book and find myself reading it a few times a year even though i know the story in-side-out.

Reviewed in Australia on 27 October 2018

A contemporary tale of growing up in Sydney in the nineties. Growing up between two worlds and trying to reconcile the differences but at its core, it’s about realising self identity.

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april_sunshine

A great and insightful read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 March 2013

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As an Australian-Italian who grew up in Sydney this book speaks particularly to me. Having read it at 13, 16, 21 and now 26 and gaining different elements each time, I think this book is appropriate to all ages post mid-teens because it appeals to an identity search we have all been familiar with at some point in our lives.
Josephine's voice is earnest and engaging. It is a joy to watch her character grow across the story and slowly develop a more mature outlook on life and what independence, tradition and identity can mean for young women in our busy, multicultural world today.

Premalata

Good read.

Reviewed in India on 19 December 2017

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Interesting teenage immigrant coming-of-age story. It's great insight.

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高齢花子

不自然と感じたこともあるけれど

Reviewed in Japan on 1 March 2013

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こんなことを言ったら、この小説が成り立たないのですが、主人公とその母のお父さんが誰であるかということは、異常にゴシップ好きのイタリア人地域共同体で話題になったと思います。そして誰であるかは容易にあてることができたと思います。その不自然さにはひっかかったけれど、でも、とても興味深い小説でした。オーストラリアへ移民した南欧系の人たちが経験した苦闘の歴史はアメリカ大陸へ移民した日本人のそれと重なりました。住んでいる場所だけで、民族名が分るというのは、現在もある貧困と差別が原因なのでしょうか。高校生が抱える進路への苦悩も、日本と同じだなあと思いました。
南欧系の人たちがwogという言葉で差別されるところでは、日本からでたことがないため、肌の色でいやな目にあったことがない自分は幸せなのかなあと思いました。そしてお父さんがいないということで、いじめつづけられていた主人公のところへ、お金もありそうな弁護士のお父さんが現れるところは、まるでおとぎ話のようでした。このうえは、主人公のママにも、やさしいお父さんにぜひあってほしいです。たとえその人が家族を持っていても、その人が選んだ妻である人やその子供たちはきっと主人公のママを愛してくれると思いました。

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Rlane

Another Amazing Marchetta Novel

Reviewed in the United States on 3 December 2011

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I can't believe this was a debut novel. Melina Marchetta has a brilliant way of writing real and relatable characters that you feel an immediate connection to. This was an amazing story that had me laughing hysterically in many parts. I've been having a hard time trying to think of what to say in this review so I'm just going to list the things I love about this book:

Josephine and her big, smart mouth. She's feisty and not a pushover. That along with her big mouth often gets her into trouble. Yet, she's cares about others.

Jacob Coote: So passionate and straightforward. He's not afraid to say what's on his mind. Loved this quote from him: "I've grown accustomed to you," he said. "You're just not what I'm used to." "And you've got the biggest mouth I've ever met." Josie: "Lovely. Why am I lying on the beach with a boy who's insulting me."?" Jacob: "Because you're attracted to me sexually." The romance between him and Josie is a nice blend of sweet and ornery at the same time. These two are ready to smack each other one minute, and then kiss until their lips are bruised, the next.

The old-world Italian family: Christina, Josie's mom, who gave up so much to raise Josie on her own. Nonna Katia, the hysterics and drama always surrounding her. In the beginning you find her just as irritating as Josie. But as Josie gets her history, you feel for her just as Josie does. Nonna Katia's story ends up being quite interesting and sad at the same time. And then there's Michael, the father who comes back into the Alibrandi's life. The developing relationship was heart-warming.

Here are some of my favorite quotes/scenes:
Josie: "We don't even love each other." Jacob: "I do a bit, you know." Josie: "You do what a bit?" Jacob: "You know. Like you...whatever...love you a bit." Josie: "I think I kind of love you too."

Jacob: "Didn't I once squash two eggs against your glasses?" Josie: "I'm flattered you remembered."

Josie: "He's not my type." Lee: "Why?" Josie: "He cracked two eggs on my glasses once." Lee: "Out of twelve girls in that alley, he picked you to do that to. I think he likes you."

Sister Gregory is famous for nostril-flaring. Once I commented to someone that she must have been a horse in another life. She overheard and scolded me, saying that, as a Catholic, I shouldn't believe in reincarnation.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

Josephine is a wonderfully real teen

Reviewed in the United States on 10 May 2015

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Looking for Alibrandi takes me to a part of Australia I didn’t know existed and includes characters I never suspected were part of Australian life. Josephine Alibrandi has never known her father, and the lack of a father is a major problem in her Italian family. Just being from an Italian heritage sets Josephine up for scorn from her solidly Australian friends, and not having a father sets Josephine up for scorn from both her Australian friends and her Italian family.

And then her father comes back into her life.

Josephine is a wonderfully real teen, full of both worries and courage, as she unexpectedly comes to connect with both her dad and other teens.

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