Looking for Alibrandi [Paperback]

Melina Marchetta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1999

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.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Seventeen-year-old Josephine Alibrandi is no stranger to conflict. If she's not caught between her strict single mom and her even stricter grandmother, then she's trying to choose between wealthy good boy John Barton and working-class bad boy Joseph Coote. Josephine is always in trouble with the nuns at her Catholic school (who everyone calls "penguins because of them wearing wimples and all that Sound of Music gear") because she fights with native Australian kids over her mixed Australian/Italian heritage. Just when she thinks her situation couldn't possibly get more complicated, her mysterious, long-lost biological father comes back and Josephine must decide if it's worth getting to know this person who abandoned her and her mother. But through it all--including a startling revelation from her grandmother and the suicide of a close friend--Josephine manages to hold on to her sense of humor, as in this reflective moment: "I could have been a model for Hot Pants. Except that when I finally put my glasses on, reality set in. Hot Pants would have to wait."

Award-winning Australian author Melina Marchetta has created a strong and sassy role model in Josephine, whom girls with growing pains on both sides of the Pacific will love. With its accurate and insightful portrayal of a young woman's coming of age, Looking for Alibrandi will have female teens waiting eagerly for Marchetta's next novel. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Although this involving novel is set in the author's native Australia, American readers will feel right at home, thanks to the charismatic, outspoken narrator, 17-year-old Josephine Alibrandi. A scholarship student at a tony Catholic girls' school, Josie is aware that she is different from her affluent "Aussie" classmates: she's illegitimate, and she's closely tied to her Italian immigrant community. She feels periodically rebellious against her classmates' snobbishness, against the nuns' authority at school, against her community's mores. Even so, Josie clearly regards the women in her lifeAher single mother, her grandmother and even some of the nunsAwith affection as well as exasperation. Josie has less experience dealing with guys until senior year, when three members of the opposite sex complicate her world. Her father, who has not previously known of her existence, arrives on the scene unexpectedly, and she can't help feeling drawn to him. She also becomes involved with two boys her own age: the upper-class but desperately unhappy John Barton and the wilder, iconoclastic Jacob Coote. The casting or plot may sound clich?ed, but the characterizations are unusually insightful and persuasive. In articulate, passionate prose, Marchetta weaves the intricate web of Josephine's relationships, juxtaposing her revelations about her family history against current crises (these include John's suicide). If the author loses momentum at the end, straining for tidy closure, she does, simultaneously, leave open new doorways for her heroine. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Australian Large Print (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1876584009
• ISBN-13: 978-1876584009
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,873,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking for Alibrandi, April 4, 2003

By 

"efstathis" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking for Alibrandi (Hardcover)

For as long as she can remember, seventeen year old Josephine Alibrandi has believed her life to be anything but fortunate. Born to a single impecunious mother from a strong Italian background, Josie has never met her father and doesn't fit in at her elitist Sydney Catholic school on account of her scholarship and inability to conform. She also refuses to embrace any part of her heritage, including her grandmother. However, to make her existence even more of a nightmare, she is constantly reminded of these factors by arch- nemesis "Poison Ivy." Not only is Ivy her superior as school captain, but she is also after the charming, white-collar, extremely wealthy, John Barton. The very same man Josie believes she is destined to be with.

Just when Josie thinks her life couldn't possibly become anymore convoluted, she is finding herself more and more attracted to blue-collar bad boy Jacob Coote. And what does her fathers reappearance after a seventeen year absence mean for her? Not to mention having to bear the burden of a thirty five year old secret, her Nona's been keeping, after mistakenly stumbling across it. Will this new information threaten to make her feel more estranged from both her family and heritage than she already does, or will it bring her closer to them. And will she be strong enough to cope when tragedy strikes so close to home? That is all of course without even contemplating the stresses of her upcoming HSC.

Set in Australia in the 1990's, this book is a turbulent ride of self-discovery, which deals with themes deemed extremely topical in today's modern teenage society. Not only does Marchetta build realism through creating strength within her characters, she further authenticates them by making their struggles identifiable to a majority of teenagers. She does this by using interrelated themes, such as identity, culture, illegitimacy, sex, single parent families and elitism, to name a few, which ultimately transcend culture. The end product of which, is a novel relevant to teenagers all around the world.

Melina Marchetta's main protagonist Josie, can only be described as awe inspiring, covering new territory that was not seen previously in Australian literature. I love this book for it's rare and honest view of the struggles teenagers face in today's modern world. Josie's complexities as a character, implore the reader to keep going so as to see how she handles each of the perplexing situations which befall her. There is also an enjoyably mix of the dramatic and comedic. This type of honest, identifiable and offbeat, teenage subject matter is to an extent what can be seen as Marchetta's trademark. When also considering the content of her newly released, second novel Saving Francesca, which focuses on a young teenaged girl who finds it hard to cope with the pressures of study, family, friendship and the male school environment, when starting at a newly converted co-ed Sydney private school. "Looking for Alibrandi" is definitely worth reading and has in my experience captured readers of all ages and genders.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Read, February 17, 2004

By 

"mmagee83" (Toronto, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking for Alibrandi (Hardcover)

This book was given to me when I was 16 from one of my Australian relatives, and has become one of my favorite books of all time. Although it's been four years, I still pull it out often to read again. Looking for Alibrandi is a fantastic coming of age book, and for people like me who have a soft spot for this genre, it will make it to the top of your list. The feelings and characters in the book are completely genuine, and the events feel so real that you will alternately be cheering and crying (as clichéd as that sounds!). I would definitely recommend this book to any teenage girl, no matter where they are from.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking... and Found a Classic, December 6, 2003

By 

NorthofCB (Bells, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking for Alibrandi (Hardcover)

If one reads any of my other book reviews it is not hard to tell that I have a flare for the unusualy, but the novel was one that I enjoyed never-the-less. I think it is so universal because everyone can relate to Joe's problems and situations. We have all have trouble choosing a boyfriend or girlfriend, and we have all had problems with family from time to time. I think the real beauty is how she deals with her father in the novel, something I was touched by and can relate to personally. A must read.