Sunday, October 16, 2011

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

My daughter, Nicola, and I just loved this debut novel and also the ensuing, award-winning film which was scripted by the author herself. I am a fan of Melina Marchetta and have recently finished reading her latest release, The Piper's Son. Looking for Alibrandi is a coming of age story which is set in Sydney in 1999 and revolves around Josie Alibrandi, a seventeen year old Australian of Italian descent. Life with her Mum in a terraced house in Glebe has its ups and downs and her interfering grandmother certainly doesn't make things easier. Josie is at that age where she is trying to take control of her own life. and in her final year at high school she is planning to turn over a new leaf, get good grades and eventually go to uni to study law. She finds that her Italian heritage and the fact that she is a "scholarship" girl seem to go against her given the predominant snobby and bigoted clientele of the school. John, the school captain at a neighboring school is a refreshing distraction from all of this. Then her father unexpectedly moves to Sydney and tragedy strikes.

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