Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Author: Melina Marchetta
Genre: Coming of Age, Mystery
Rating: 10
Teach-ability: 8
Teachable Aspects: timeline, character, voice, foreshadowing

I had never heard of this book before it was assigned in class, which is surprising, because I like to say that I am pretty current with my Young Adult Lit. I very much enjoy reading it, both as a training device for when I have students who need recommendations but also because they tend to tell a very good story.

This one told two.

Embedded in the story of Taylor Markham, a teenage girl with more questions than answers, not only of her future but her past as well, is a wonderfully woven story of 5 friends. The mystery of the novel is figuring out how these two stories, obviously of different times, do, in fact, intertwine.

This book really made me think, which is something that I enjoy from books. I am naturally an active reader anyway, imaging setting and characters, wondering about their lives and essentially creating people out of the stories, but this book really allowed me to think, reflect and engage with the story. I think the passive reader, one who would rather allow the story tell itself, would get just as much out of the book, which is partly what makes this book so fascinating as a story. It stands on its own but allows the reader to get involved.

The story is more than just a romance, or just a mystery, or just a tale about a girl in search of her mother. There are various genres woven into one tale; many layers to this story, which is common of life. There is not just one story; stories are interwoven to create the fabric of a person.

In all, I would recommend this book to students, as it is a true teen book. I think that when it comes to the classroom, I would definitely share this with my students, male and female. I don't think that I would share this as an analytical text, although it does create some interesting hypothesises, as I wouldn't want this text to be one that is also linked with tedious work, grasping at symbolism and tearing the text apart word for word. Instead, I could imagine it as a read-aloud, where the entire class gets to participate, with questions and predictions and be able to take in a great story.