On the Jellicoe Road
 |
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| Author | Melina Marchetta |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | HarperTeen |
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Publication date
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2006 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages |
432 (hardcover) 290 (paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 191931317 |
432 (hardcover)
On the Jellicoe Road is a young adult novel by Australian novelist Melina Marchetta. It was first published in Australia in 2006 by Penguin Australia under the title On the Jellicoe Road, where it was awarded the 2008 West Australia Young Readers Book (WAYRB) Award for Older Readers. It was later published in the United States in 2008 under the abbreviated title Jellicoe Road by HarperTeen and went on to win the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association.
The story is set around the life of Taylor Lily Markham, the 17-year-old leader of the boarding school on the Jellicoe Road (country NSW/ACT). Taylor was abandoned at the 7/11 on the Jellicoe Road by her mother when she was 11, and her only recollection of her father is a brief memory of standing on her father's shoulders. The only adult influence in her life is her mentor/guardian Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river, and writes stories about five kids who lived there in the 1980s and who has suddenly vanished into thin air at a time when Taylor really needs her.
To top all of Taylor’s problems off, there is a territory war going on between the boarders, the Townies (kids from the Jellicoe Town) and the Cadets (Sydney boys who come for a six-week training exercise every year to Jellicoe). The leader of the cadets this year happens to be the very boy who Taylor ran away with when she was 14 in search of her mother. The one who betrayed her trust and she never wants to see again.
Running parallel to Taylor's story is the story that Hannah writes, about the five kids in the 1980s. As Hannah has not yet compiled it, the story is shown in pieces throughout the novel with her handwriting. In the American editions, it is shown with those chapters printed in a different front, while original edition shows Hannah's chapters in italics.
Australia
"I'm dreaming of the boy in the tree. I tell him stories. About the Jellicoe School and the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney. I tell him about the war between us for territory. And I tell him about Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river. Hannah, who is too young to be hiding away from the world. Hannah, who found me on the Jellicoe Road six years ago.
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Wikipedia