Jellicoe Road

Its kind of hard to read anything after this book....it is so compelling, and will make you see patterns in your own life that may have unintended links to the past. Seventeen-year-old Taylor Markham is the most unwilling and unwelcome leader of her Australian boarding school's deadly serious teen wars, which have been going on for decades and involve hostage taking and territory disputes with rival groups in town and the nearby military school. Taylor's past abandonment at age 11 by her disturbed and neglectful mother turns out to be deeply and strangely connected to a group of her "enemies," and also to Hannah, her sometimes rescuer and enigmatic "house mother." This book, first published in Australia, won the 2009 Printz award for excellence in young adult literature. It's been criticized for being too confusing initially and making the reader wait too long for the pieces of the story to come together. Do you agree? Do you think the Printz award committee made a good choice? Who was your favorite character?

Comments

[Carolyn]

At the beginning, I was not thrilled with the twists and turns and admit I was confused but something kept me reading (I'm still trying to figure out what that something was, since I didn't love any of the characters). WOW I'm glad I did! I actually bought this book for full price--which I never do because as soon as I finished, I needed to own it! I hope more people talk about this book

[Jenifer Smith]

I got sucked in by Taylor's authentic voice. I did have to reread a few bits to make sure I remembered who was whom and what happened in the past and present. What a cool, twisted together story. What a brave and honest young woman Taylor is. What actions might you be taking right now that could impact the rest of YOUR life?

[Deidre K. Bradford]

In the beginning, I was not thoroughly enjoying this book because I thought it was confusing and lacked focus, but boy was I wrong!!! The author does a wonderful job of intertwining Jellicoe Road's past and present into two wonderful stories of two groups of friends. Taylor's weaknesses only end up making her seem stronger in the end. Jellicoe Road is a great read!

[Jenifer Smith]

I've run into some other adults and a few teens who have picked up this book. I encourage them to keep reading if they don't get hooked at first.

[Toni S]

Yes its a really complex mystery at first with a tremendous payoff.
If you have the patience to "untie all the knots." I don't buy very many books (occupational symptom of working at a library) but I had to own this one. I am still trying to figure out my feelings toward Taylor's mother. Part of me is angry that she allowed the tragedy to terribly impact so many lives and to endanger and harden Taylor at a tender age and part of me feel as though her personality had a kind of avalanche after the last tragedy and she tried to keep Taylor as safe as possible in her deeply flawed way.
It made me think about how certain patterns arise and repeat themselves in life, sometimes between generations---maybe sometimes we get do overs until we get it right!