Book: On the Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Pages: 290
Publisher: Viking
Reviewed by: Kat (Age 21)

Taylor is the leader of the boarders at the Jellico School. For many years a territory was has been conducted each summer between the boarders, a visiting group of cadets from a military school and the ‘townies’.

If conducting a war wasn’t complicated enough there’s the fact that she has just enough of a history with enigmatic Cadet Leader Jonah Griggs. Then there’s the mystery of Taylor’s own past. Her mother abandoned her on the Jellicoe road nearly ten years ago and the closest thing she’s had to a mother since then; Hannah has just disappeared. Taylor’s certain the clues to Hannah’s disappearance and her own past lies in a manuscript Hannah had been writing about five children who lived, loved and lost on the Jellicoe road nearly twenty years ago.

Award winning Australian author Melina Marchetta’s third novel is very possibly her best yet. The story is beautiful, heartbreaking and every thread is so powerfully interwoven in ways you won’t guess or see coming. You’ll fall in love with the characters and cry along with their various tragedies and triumphs. The relationships are real and heartwarming. Personally the novel reminded me so much of how fortunate I am in life to have a loving family.

On the Jellicoe Road is a must read for any teen. This one is going to stay with me for a long time.

Note: The book includes some foul language and some content that could be offensive to younger readers.