Book Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

This is probably the best Printz Award winner yet. I really enjoyed this book. Check it out!

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I will freely admit that I didn’t really get hooked on this book until I was over a hundred pages in. In fact, this is a book I have picked up and started several times before and ended up putting it down. I think the only way I got through it this time is because I made a commitment to read it, and I am so glad I did. Jellicoe Road is a story about tragedy and triumph, family and friends, hope and loss. It tells the story of two families, the Markham’s and the Schroeder’s, and their lives on the Jellicoe Road.

Our primary narrator for the novel is Taylor Markham, who was abandoned by her mother at a 7-eleven on Jellicoe Road when she was 11 years old. As Taylor reluctantly accepts a leadership role at her school and leads the war against the townies and cadets, she also starts down a path of self discovery, where she discovers her own history and who she really is.

Nothing in this novel is as it seems and it takes quite a while for the pieces of the puzzle to begin to fall into place. Once you get to that part, though, it becomes nearly impossible to put the book down. Highly recommended.

Cautions for sensitive readers: There is some profanity in the book and some sexual situations. There is also a violent car accident that is referred to with some graphic depictions.




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