When you can manage making my heart feel so passionately for a person who only exists in whisps of memories throughout the entire course of a novel, I salute you.

The senior in charge explains that they've gathered in the creepy candle-lit hut for the "official passing-on ceremony," where Taylor will become the leader of Jellicoe School in the territory war with the Cadets and Townies. If all YA contemporary writers wrote like Marchetta, I doubt I'd play in any other genre playground very often. She writes these beautifully inspirational, relatable, and emotionally-charged novels that seem to affect me in an undescribable way.Bernard Williamson, chairman of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, behind what was the main bar at the Iron Duke pub. (Image: Jess Coppings) 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. 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. [1] 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. [2] Summary [ edit ] This is a book that I will reread again and again and know that eveytime it will still impact me as it did the first time I read it. 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 sitting 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.

The two story lines merge as Taylor begins to understand the meaning of Hannah's writings, which help explain Taylor's dreams and memories. The five inseparable companions from the 1980s invented the territory wars. Hannah is the “Narnie” of the written story, and she is in love with the Cadet, Jude Scanlon, who became the Brigadier. Hannah's brother was Xavier Webster “Webb” Schroeder, who impregnated Tate, Taylor's mother. Fitz, the rescuer, accidentally shot and killed Webb, after which he committed suicide. The novel explores themes of love, loss, identity, and belonging. It received critical acclaim upon its release and has won several awards, including the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. Novel Summary The side characters were so well fleshed out. And I was just as invested in their stories as I was in Taylor's. Their character growth and development and their own struggles was so beautiful to read. Watching them become more to one another brought me such joy. 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.Mood Whiplash: Taylor references this when she says that she feels like an abusive father, one second a monster, and the next human. Talking in Your Dreams: Webb dreamed of Taylor, which is where he got her name, and Taylor dreams of Webb, but she only knows him as 'the boy in the tree'.

There’s 17-year-old Taylor Markham who is a senior attending a boarding school on Jellicoe Road. This boarding school is no ordinary boarding school, as it is a school specifically meant for children who have been abandoned by their parents and families. Taylor ended up at Jellicoe after her mother left her at a 7/11 when she was eleven. Every autumn a territory war is waged between the students, the “townies” of Jellicoe, and the cadets of a military school in Sydney. The cadets set up camp near the school every September as part of their outdoor training. Taylor being the student who has lived in Jellicoe the longest becomes the elected leader of the school during the war. Chaz Santangelo, son of the police chief, is the leader of the townies, and the cadets are led by Jonah Griggs. A statement said: "Earlier last week we wrote to residents of Jellicoe Road and Fremantle Road as part of a preliminary consultation concerning the proposed installation of some small sections of double yellow line waiting restrictions on the western end of Jellicoe Road, in addition to waiting restrictions already in place and the proposed introduction of a new 7.5 ton weight limit on Fremantle Road to prevent unnecessary access of large vehicles not suited to this residential street. Genre Mashup: The 'band' put together by the three groups consists of two guitarists, a DJ and a violinist. It works. Somehow. In the present, events are described from the viewpoint of Taylor Markham, who was abandoned at age eleven by her drug-addicted mother. Taylor was rescued by a woman named Hannah and placed at Jellicoe School. Hannah lives nearby, works as house guardian, and remains close to Taylor. A government-funded boarding institution, the school is located in Jellicoe, a rural Australian town. Plagued by fragmented dreams and fractured memories, Taylor is the leader of Lachlan House, a school dormitory, and in charge of fifty younger girls. The school is preparing for the annual territory wars against the Townies, who attend a school in the neighboring town, and the Cadets, students at the local military school. The territory wars involve strategic maneuvers and negotiations carried out under strict rules to gain advantage of particular landmarks, such as favorite trees or water sources. The Townies are led by handsome Chaz Santangelo, and the Cadets are under command of the Brigadier. The wars are muddled for Taylor by her history with Cadet Jonah Griggs: they separately ran away at age fourteen, met on a train, and made a romantic connection. A further complication is the growing relationship between Raffy, a conflicted town girl attending the school, and Chaz, the son of a Jellicoe police officer.She's Not My Girlfriend: Taylor denies that she's Jonah's girlfriend at one point. She's not, but Raffy and Ben still make sure the girls who were trying to flirt with him know he's unavailable.

A mesmerizing and ultimately uplifting story about the fierce loyalty of friendship and the power of forgiveness. Publishers Weekly On her first night at the school, Taylor told Raffaela a story about something that happened to her while she lived in the city with her mom. Taylor no longer remembers what she said, but it was terrible enough for Raffaela to look at her with horror and say she would pray for Taylor. And while initially she was worried, she now broadly welcomed the scheme - although not all her neighbours felt the same, especially those with multiple vehicles. she created powerfully three-dimensional characters that i cared about and hated to close the book on. truly - it has been a while since i have fought sleep. i love sleep - i neeeed sleep. but i forced myself awake to keep reading this, and when i finally had to give in, it was with the deepest resentment.More importantly, it’s an iconic building that needs to be preserved with a sustainable use. We are looking forward to the partnership with Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust to make this happen." Twenty-two years after the events of the prologue, Taylor Markham is having a bizarre recurring dream that she's sitting in a tree with a boy who listens to 80s music on a Walkman, which was like an iPod before there were iPods. The character development in this story is extraordinary; no one is denied the sweetness of redemption and transformation.