Looking for Alibrandi

November                     read / re-read it / blog it

Monday 17 December   chat to Melina

The last chat booked out, fast, so get in quick if you want to chat to Melina.

Josephine Alibrandi is 17, and in her final year of school. Dealing with her mum and the ways of her Nonna are daunting enough as she prepares for her exams. But Josie is about to discover real life gets in the way of her carefully-made plans. She suddenly has to deal with having her father around for the first time in her life, falling in love and uncovering her family's secret background. Despite all the turmoil, this is the year Josie discovers that emancipation doesn't mean escaping from your past. Sometimes you need to face up to who you are in order to set yourself free . . . 

Comments

[Jen]

Looking for alibrandi is my all time favorite book. I pulled my copy off my book shelf to lend to a friend the other day and it looked worse than a library books it is that used. Melina Marchetta is a great writer and i have enjoyed all of her books so much and I am so excited that she is going to be releasing another book in March 2010 Yay!

[Liza]

Looking for Alibrandi is a great book.Melina Marchetta has a great knack for writing books. I also loved On the Jellicoe Road since it encompass real issues faced by teenagers.

[marissa]

i am a teenager myself and i can tell you this is a great book to read as you will enjoy it at and age
love this book =)

[daniel dix]

that was the crapest book i ever read and i diddnt even finish because it was so crap

[Beige]

I first read Looking for Alibrandi in year 6, without any pressure from schoolwork. And I LOVED it! It was the best book, despite it being a bit - mature - for me then. When I revisited it in year 8 (as schoolwork that time) I found that I still liked it - it had that friendly, confiding feel to it that I loved.

I have to agree with Madster about Finnikin of the Rock, though. The book didn't make much sense to me. A bit too much bravado, with too little to show for it. I reckon Melina Marchetta would have done better writing it from first person perspective, as she did for Looking for Alibrandi. I think I would have enjoyed that infinitely more.

[Madster]

I also adore Looking for Alibrandi and Melina Marchetta's, On the Jellicoe Road. She has such a knack for knowing exactly what goes on in teenage minds! Unfortunately Saving Francesca didn't have quite the same feel as the other two and I didn't enjoy it as much. As for those bloggers who hated Looking for Alibrandi, try reading it without the motive (and the pressure!) of a school assigment. It's only the homework mentality that ruined it for you, I can assure you. Has anyone read Finnikin of the rock, MM's new novel? I read the first sentence and could continue no further; WHAT DRIBBLE!! She should stick to what she knows and steer clear of the fantasy genre; it's not her style.

[Juliette]

This book is god-awful.
Just because it smacks you in the face with all the issues schools like doesn't mean they should study it.
And the protagonist makes me want to jump into fiction-land just to beat the shit out of her.

[Bianca]

LOVE , LOVE , LOVE the Book ! One of the absoloute best ! I can relate to it so bad with the whole Italian family thing ! And in the movie Josie's Nonna has the same bowl as my Nonna ! LOL !
I crieed when John died and I thought Jacob was a bit random at the start and then I just fell in love ! [= Edward Cullen momment all over again !

[Brad]

Hate the book. Hate the shitty essay I need to write about the characters. Hate how the book doesn't go into deep detail about them. Hate the storyline. Hate how the book is about trivial bullshit.

Hate the book.
One of the worst I've read.

[*Jess]

Looking For Alibrandi is by far one of the best books i have read. I almost cried when John died, and i dont usually cry when I read books. I love Jacob :).

Also, to my surprise, the movie is almost as good as the book itself, it was very much the same as the book. Definitly better than most book to movie conversions.

[Lisa]

Hey guys,
I just adore this book. I swear I have done so many book reports on it!
Some it is so down to earth, and you feel like you could be one of the characters.
I actually found myself crying in that tearful part, and I'm not one to cry normally!
And the movie is pretty sad too, but the way she comes back from that is brilliant.
I mean, kill off the best character, but its still a fantastic book!
Lisa

[Kristine]

Looking For Alibrandi is one of my many fave books. It's in my like top 5 lol
The movie is pretty good as well. =]
Melina Marchetta is talented,and I envy her creativity haha
But as for suggestions as to whats a decent book to read.
"Hard Love" by Ellen Wittlinger.
Gotta tell ya guys though it's a real tear jerker.

[Paola]

i love Melina Marchetta.!.
where would i be without her.?!.
i loved the movie and the book.............
that was exceptional.!.
loved it from begining to end and bak.!.
if anyone noes ny other authors that are as gudd as Melina (xcept Stepheine Meyer already know bout her LOL.!.) plz tell me cz im yet 2 cross ny other.!.

[jewels]

Oh really, you didn't like it? I liked the movie, although it's nothing like reading the book.

Have you had a chance to read The Luxe yet? It's sooooo good! I heard there is going to be another one out in the series also...

[Anna Lyze]

Looking for Alibrandi is so beautifully written. Its very simplistic but delves into issues which teenagers CAN relate to. The movie really was a disappointment. Melina writes with passion and humor but the movie didnt seem to really get into the whole vivacity of the story.

[Aliesha]

i really liked thos book. i can say i loved it but i liked it it was funnya nd sad and a little werid at times. i like werid. i didnt know it been turned into a movie. maybe ill go see it. maybe.

[btl crew]

Hi everyone - we have a time and date for you all to chat to Melina. It's Monday 17 December at 5.30pm (5pm SA/NT or 3.30pm WA time).

Make sure you register to chat BEFORE the start time, so that we can email you the chat room password.

btl crew

[darklord]

I have seen both the movie and read the book of Looking for Alibrandi and I, unlike many who posted blogs about it, found it a terrible book. It was not the writing of the book, yet the theme, plot and storyline I believe was horrible. I can not see how anyone can relate to this themselves.

[grace]

Looking For Alibrandi is a text that enables teenagers to relate to and thus appreciate. Realistic themes such as love, family and death speak out to the teenage audience and consquently one emphatises for the main character, Josie.

Marchetta's writing style is easy to comprehend by using colloquial language and common australian symbols or landmarks, the audience is more thoroughly engaged. The film is a good supportive supplement to the text and Marchetta should be comended on such a passinate book. This book is a must read for those interested in reading good teenage literature.

[Maddie]

i really enjoyed this book. It made me Laugh and it made me cry and it really made me think about all the different cultures we have in Australia and how some people have to cope with family traditions.

The fact that Josie has to deal with end of year exams, she suddenly has to deal with the father she has never met, and suicidal of her friend John, makes me feel sorry for her. BUt by the end of it she finally discovers herself and that's what i Lovve!

[Shoshana]

Whoops!!! i meant to say saving francessca.

[Shoshana]

Even though the looking for Alibrandi and Melina's other books such as Looking for Francessca is not my cup of tea. Melina's stlye of writing is execeptional!!!

[Missa]

I was actually hesitent to read this book, greatly so. Since it's not really my type of thing, I don't get into moderns. However, 'Looking For Alibrandi' took me a couple of hours, that was how much I enjoyed it.

Melina writes not just from her mind and knowledge of a teenagers life and just how difficult it can be, but she writes from the heart, so it seems anyway. She writes with passion, and feeling, it's not like one of those books where you can't wait for it to end because it's bad, it's one you want to end just to find out what the ending is.

'Looking for Alibrandi' was a great book, it touched on some majorly important issues like suicide and depression, teenage romance and illegimacey. It was a wonderful book of self-discovery, and wonder, in the beginning of the book, Josie didn't know who she was, didn't know what she was looking for. At the end, she'd figured out just who Josephine Andretti(Alibrandi) was, and stopped caring about what other people thought, she'd figured out who she was, and was happy with that. How many people can say they are happy with who they are, or even that they know who they are. Again, a brilliant book, two-thumbs up.

[Bronte]

Looking for Alibrandi has been one of my favourite books for a long time. I think it's one of the few books that the movie actually is equal to. I love her snarky attitude and I was so sad when John Barton... *sniff* ya know.
It's an important film because it shows that not everyone who has everything is instantly happy and it says a lot about how not every is perfect.

[Jiordy]

i read the book for a class assignment, so basically we did it to death. so basically i like it but not as much as her other two books, becuase i didn't have to write an 800 word essay on how the characters interact together. on jellicue road and saving francesca were cool though