chapter 29 summary Josie at speech night. Speech night was a very emotional night, the HSC was almost over and it would be the last time that they would be wearing their uniform. “I’m only Dux because I didn’t want you to be” she told me. When josie went to the ladies she bumps into Ivy and they start to talk to each other about how close they were to john and that they didn’t know what could have caused him to commit suicide, in the end Josie and Ivy hug each other and Josie tells Ivy that if they ever go to the same university that if they bumped into each other they would go out for a cappuccino.
In this chapter we get to see that Ivy and Josie can get along when they choose to be and even though they had there ups and downs they still ended up as good friends, just the way that john hoped it would be like. chapter 28 summary Josie is hit with a shocking surprise.
When Josie went to school the next day she sees Ivy sitting on the stairs holding her head in her hands and Josie asks her what was wrong then Ivy tells her that John was dead but Josie thought that it was a joke when Ivy told her but then when she saw anna come up to her and hold her in her arms and say that she was very sorry josie had to go to the ladies room and she vomited and then when she was done she fell to the ground and she felt like she wanted to cry but she couldn’t because she was so angry. “he killed himself. “He swallowed tablets and they found him this morning. ” “For God’s sake, josie, he’s dead, my father wrote the fucking autopsy report. ” In this chapter we get to see that josie and ivy have so much in common because they both loved john and they both cared about him so much, we also get to see that josie has a lot of fear in her because she is to scared to die and she never wants her family to die because she loves them so much. chapter 27 summary Josie goes to watch her cousin robert play at his rugby union game.
While at the game josie bumps into john who was also watching the game and asks josie what she was doing at the game, she said that she bribed her cousin because if she went to his game he had to take her to the St. Anthony’s graduation. “Oh yes, where only the privileged can attend. I promised Ivy when we were about twelve I think. ” In this chapter we get to see that josie and john get along very well and that they both like each other but they were both to shy to tell each other that they did when they were younger. chapter 26 summary
Josie forgives her grandmother for doing what she did over thirty years ago. “your grandfather francesco treated me like one of his farm animals. ” Josie and her friends were going to go to Anna’s to do some last minute studying for the HSC but when the bus came Josie say’d to her friends that she would miss out and instead she went to her grandmothers house. When Josie got to her grandmothers house she gave her the biggest hug she has ever given and she cried her guts out, when they sat down in the living room Josie asks why?
And then her grandmother tells her more of what happened and because of that she starts to resent her nonno a bit because of what he did to nonna katia. In this chapter Josie learns that her grandmother had dreams like her and that she did what she did because she was angry with francesco and only him because he had left her alone for so long. chapter 25 summary Josie and her family celebrate her mothers birthday. Josie lets her mother go to her cousins house and stays at her grandmothers house and then she blows her top off at her grandma and finds out that marcus sandford is her mother’s father and not her nonno.
In this chapter we get to see that Josie dislikes her grandmother for doing what she did and she has been telling her that australians are bad and she should go out with an italian man instead. chapter 24 summary Jacob wants to meet Josie’s grandmother. When Josie and Jacob are walking down the stairs she sees her grandmother and Jacob tells Josie that he wants to meet her because he thought it would be nice but Josie repeatedly says no because she has just earned her grandmothers trust again and she doesn’t want to lose that. “My grandmother wouldn’t understand, jacob. give it time. he was brought up in a different time and place . i know it’s hard enough for you to understand. It’s hard enough for me. ” In this chapter we get to see that Josie feels kind of ashamed of her grandmother because her grandmother always to carry on with her family tradition. we also get to see that Josie and Jacob don’t always have the right things to say to each other. chapter 23 summary Josie gets to understand her grandmother more than she has ever before. Josie learns that her grandmother was a very lonely person when she moved to australia because nonno had to work and he worked on the cain farms when they lived in Queensland. He came to see me though. he said that it would his heart if i would leave. i could see it in his eyes. but if i stayed i knew i would break my heart. ” In this chapter we get to see Josie and her grandmother really close to each other, we also get to see that Josie is interested in what her grandmothers life was like when she first moved to Australia. chapter 22 summary Josie and her mum have a splurge day. they decided to go to one of the harbourside restaurants and although the weather was cool, it wasn’t wet enough to ruin the view. “he’s ultra cool, you know.
Not cool as though he drives a sports car and dresses trendy, but he’s a cool guy, he’s up front. No bull. ” “take things slowly, and they will work out. ” this chapter reveal that christina was treated very badly by her father when she was pregnant and even before that, he called her every name under the sun, a tramp, a slut. he even hit me across the face and even hit my mother. chapter 21 summary Josie goes to the movies with John Barton to see Macbeth. While at the movies they bump into Jacob and he tries to have a go at John because Josie and Jacob are going out, but in Jacobs eyes that s not what it looks like. Well,, for your information, Miss Intellectual, we’re studying Macbeth at school and that’s what i’m going to see tonight,so never ever presume what i like and what i don’t like. ” In this chapter we get to see that Jacob gets jealous when Josie goes out with other friends that are boys, we also get to see that they both can get pissed of very easily with each other. if Josie had the option to go out with John and not Jacob she would but the only thing from stopping her is that he isn’t that fun as Jacob but he shares so many things in common with Josie and Jacob doesn’t. chapter 20 summary
Josie is put in charge of keeping an eye on he little students at St Martha’s on their annual Walk-a-thon that they have every year to celebrate St Martha’s day. While Josie is supposed to be looking after the slow people she instead goes with her friends to see Trey Hancock at the Sebel Town House. The next day Sister Louise calls the girls into her office but dismisses three of them and tells Josie to stay behind. “Ivy doesn’t have “one offs”. She’s responsible from the moment she walks into school till the moment she walks out. ” “You were voted school captain but i gave the job to Ivy because she’d do a better job. In this chapter we find out that Josie was supposed to be school captain instead of Ivy, we also learn that Josie loves to do what her friends do and that she and her friends are trend setters for all the little people of St Martha’s. chapter 19 summary Tomato Day! Josie and her family have a tradition that they have to make their own pasta and sauce to go with it, this is when the whole tomato thing comes into place every year on a specific day all the family comes together and they pick tomatoes for the sauce, they squash them by hand and then cook them and then squash them again and then cook them one last time.
Robert and I call this day “Wog day” or “National Wog day”. Nonna and Zia started to tell the story about Marcus Sandford and how he helped them with the garden while the men where at camp. “I thought that maybe by spoke to someone they would feel sorry for us and send us back one man. Maybe all our husbands. ” This chapter reveals that Josie and her family get on very well when they aren’t fighting and telling others what to do and how to do it, we also get to see that Josie’s family loves to carry out tradition. chapter 18 summary
Jacob surprises Josie by getting a car so they can go places instead of having to ride on his motorbike. “Tons of things ,” I said excited. “We could form a company. I’d be the theory part of the business and you’d be the practical. ” This chapter reveals that Josie believes that she can have a wonderful life with Jacob but at the same time she doesn’t as well because she doesn’t believe that she has chosen the right man for her. chapter 17 summary Josie gets to know her father more than ever over the holiday that they had together in Adelaide. “You sound like Mama”, I said, standing up through the sunroof.
Josie enjoys the time that she spends with her father in Adelaide and meeting the rest of her family for the first time in seventeen years. This chapter reveals that Josie likes being with her father because she feels like she has known him for her whole entire life. When Josie gets back she sees Jacob on Saturday night and he tells her never to leave him again. chapter 16 summary Josie wags school on friday to go on a date with Jacob Coote. He leaned over and kissed me quickly. “what was that for? ” i asked, embarrassed, but laughing. “I like the way you talk, I like the way you think. So much passion behind those bifocalled eyes.
So much to say”. This chapter reveals that Josie is really opening up to Jacob and letting him into her life, and the same thing goes for Jacob he is letting Josie into his life and telling each other what they have done and what their families are like. chapter 15 summary Josie goes out with the girls to darling harbour after school, at the cafe` they see Jacob, Anton and four of their friends cramp themselves in to the booth behind them much to the dismay of Anna and Josie. “Listen, we’ll start over again, Okay, I looked into his clear green eyes which always seemed so warm and sincere no matter how bad he looked at times”.
Eyes, my mother told me, never lie. This chapter reveals that Josie starts to like Jacob again even though he treated her like he did on their date to the movies. when Josie gives Jacob a second chance he asks her to wag school with him so they could go out on a proper date. chapter 14 summary Josie meets up with John barton again and give each other their pieces of paper with their emotions written on it. John talks to Josie about the fact that his father hates him at the moment just because he didn’t win the maths competition. My father was home when i got there this afternoon . Went through my mail. He owns m y life so of course he is entitled to open my mail,” he spat out bitterly. after John finishes telling Josie about what his father think s about him at the moment they decide to talk about the HSC and that they have to write what they are feeling at the moment and then they have to give it to someone else and then after the HSC the person that they gave the note has to ask them how they are feeling and read out what they felt before the test.
In this chapter we are shown Josie’s feelings for John Barton again, we are also shown that Josie cares about what John does with his life and tries to help him with his problems. chapter 13 summary Josie goes out on a date with Jacob Coote but ends up spending the night with her father Michael Andretti. “Just because you had to meet my mother, you went and acted like a prick. Why? ” “Okay, this is my proposition. How about you come work for me at the chamber? You can do photocopying and help the secretaries,” he suggested.
Josie starts to dislike Jacob Coote because he was being a snob to her and her mother when he came to pick her up so they could go to the movies, when they got to the movies they started to have a fight and then Josie ran off and hid in one of the arcades and when she thought the cost was clear she ran out of the movies and started to walk home when she was being followed by a car, when it pulled up next to her she shouted at the driver saying that her father was a police officer and the person driving said actually he’s a Barrister, Josie jumps in the car and has dinner with Michael Andretti at a pizza place on Glebe point road.
In this chapter we get to see a father, daughter relationship build and start to get strong we also get to see Josie’s true feelings towards her father, she feels that she wants to know him more but at the same time she doesn’t want to because what he did to her mother over seventeen years ago. chapter 12 summary Josie ask’s her grandmother to show her the photos of when she was young and her past. “I regretted it when i saw the look of glee on her face. Because the way Nonna makes my mother feel , I hate making that women happy. ” Even hough Josie doesn’t like to make her grandmother happy she still tried to pay attention when she was telling her stories behind all the photos, Josie screeched when her grandmother told her that her first Australian friend was a hunk, but when her grandfather had found out that her grandmother had an aussie over about every day he got jealous and said she was never to see him again. In this chapter we get to see that Josie tries to be nicer to her grandmother. chapter 11 summary Josie talks to her mum again and ask’s if she can go to the movies on saturday. Is that what all this buttering up has been all about” after telling her mother that she wants to go to the movies with Jacob Coote, her mother says that she will think about it. this chapter reveals that Josie has strong feelings for Jacob Coote more than ever because not only did he protect her after she as hurt by Greg Sims and she liked that he was being a protective person. chapter 10 summary Josie gets raped by Greg Sims and his posy. “He grabbed me by the front of the uniform and slobbered all over my mouth and i could hear Anna scream and pull me away while the bile rose in my throat”.
Jacob Coote comes to comes to Josie’s aid while she is being forced upon by Greg Sims. In this chapter we are shown that not only can Josie be mean and cruel to other people, Jacob Coote can also be just as mean and cruel to people. When Jacob drops Josie off she tells him that if he wants to go out with her that he has to meet her mother, Jacob puts up a fight but in the end he gives in and ask’s her out to the movies on saturday night. chapter 9 summary Josie fights with her mum. “I don’t like the fact that you’re going out with him again. Josie doesn’t like it when her mother leaves her at home alone just so she can go out with a guy, Josie doesn’t want her mum to get married because she just wants it too be the two of them until they die. The chapter reveals that Josie loves her mother but she also doesn’t want to hurt her by doing the wrong things. Josie has her moments with her mother every now and then, but they usually end up hugging each other or if it doesn’t go well they don’t talk to each other for a while. chapter 7 summary Josie goes to her grandmothers house because her mum is going out for the night. Oh God, Ma, I have to sleep in the same bed as her. She doesn’t shave her legs. ” Josie learns a lot about her grandmother that night that she sleeps over, she told Josie that she used to look exactly like her when she was her age, she also told Josie that she was forced to move to Australia with her husband and that meant that she would probably never see her family again. This chapter reveals that Josie starts to develop a stronger relationship with her. chapter 8 summary Josie brakes a girls nose. we are introduced to one of the beautiful girls Carly Bishop “they were all wogs. hey seem to be ever where,” she snickered. “I’m just the same as them and I’d appreciate you not going on about wogs every day. It offends me” In this chapter we get to see a father daughter relationship develop between Josie and Michael Andretti. the chapter reveals that Josie does have feelings for Michael Andretti even though she told him to stay away from he he still came to the rescue when she called. chapter 6 summary Josie meets her father for the second time. “I don’t want her,” he said flatly. oth Josie and Christina had a fight with Michael Andretti, first it was Christina who told Michael that they didn’t want anything to do with him, then later on in the day Josie followed him into the lounge room and watched him look at all the photos that her grandmother had all around the place, Josie told him that if he ever hurt her mum that he would be in a lot of trouble. This chapter reveals that Josie feels anger and hatred towards Michael Andretti because he left her mum when she was young and didn’t try to contact her since then. chapter 5 summary Josie goes to the regional dance.
Jacob Coote gives Josie a ride home on his motor cycle even though Josie knows that if her mum found out that she did she was going to be dead or one of the people in another car saw her and recognized her they would tell her grandmother and she would tell her mother. “My mother will murder me”. “she’ll find out alright”. this chapter reveals that Josie starts to develop a strong relationship with Jacob Coote. “do you know that I’ve been in this country my whole life and I’ve never spoken to an aboriginal”. chapter 4 summary Josie works with Poison Ivy at the debating night.
We are introduced to John Barton. “To walk into the regional dance with John Barton would make me the envy of every snob at St Martha’s”. This chapter reveals that Josie shows her feeling for just more than one particular boy. she likes to flirt a lot with boys that she hasn’t seen for ages or just met. chapter 3 summary Josie hates to go to her grandma’s house because its her family ritual only because her mum makes her. We are introduced to Josie’s father Michael. “Michael! my heart began to pound at one hundred miles per hour and I could feel the hairs at the back of my head standing up on end”.
This chapter reveals that Josie feels hate towards her grandmother because she sayed that the daughter’s behaviour always reflects on how good the mother is. chapter 2 summary Josie speaks about AIDS at the ‘Have A Say Day’. Josephine has friends such as Sera, Lee and Anna, who influence her life greatly. We are introduced to Jacob Coote at the ‘Have A Say Day’ “…. If your an outcast with your own kind, you’ll never be accepted by anyone”. “No matter how much I hate Poison Ivy, I want to be in her world”. This chapter shows more about Josie’s relationship with her friends and how she deals with her family life.
For days I just couldn’t help thinking about my father. I felt sick at the idea of meeting him, though at the same time I desperately wanted to. chapter 1 summary The reader is introduced to the main character and narrator of the story, Josephine Alibrandi. as a reader we find out that Josie goes to St Martha’s high school. The narrator is a typical teenager who worries about issues such as peer pressure and relationships with others and teachers. “My biggest problem though, is being at a school dominated by rich people… ho i can’t see having a problem in the world” This chapter shows how Josie feels insecure because she is an outsider. My Mother was born here so as far as the Italians were concerned we weren’t completely one of them. Yet because my grandparents were born in Italy we weren’t completely Australian. Whole Book Summary ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ is a story about a young girl, growing up in Sydney in the nineties. The only side of life to create any hassle is that she is Italian, with an Italian mother, grandmother and father, somewhere, growing up in an Australian world.
Throughout the book, she spends her entire year twelve either at her home or at her grandmother’s, school or suburban areas, learning about herself and making friends. The main character, Josephine Alibrandi, or Josie, is a feisty and head-strong seventeen year old. She received an English scholarship at the beginning of highschool to go to a strict, Catholic college, St. Martha’s. She is very intelligent academically and can achieve excellent grades when she applies herself. She is also the vice-captain at St. Martha’s to Ivy, an Australian favourite of all, whom she calls Poison Ivy.
Most of her friends from primary school didn’t end up there, so she has made new friends, although most of the school is from the rich, Australian side of Sydney. She has only just introduced boys as a major part of her life, mostly involving Jacob Coote from the state school and forming a friendship with John Barton, from the Catholic boy’s school. Josephine was born illegitimately to a seventeen year old Christina Alibrandi. The father, a boy of the same age named Michael Andretti, had to move away to Adelaide with his family before she was born. There was a part of him that knew Christina had gone through with the pregnancy, however he as scared and not prepared for a child. Michael had to come back to Sydney when Josephine was seventeen for his work as a barrister and bumped into Christina at a wedding. Michael Andretti is stern and serious. Even Josephine notes him as “a worrier”. They have separate lives, he has a good job and a girlfriend. By the end of the story, they have grown close and he had gotten her out of trouble many times, like when she smashed Carly Bishop in the nose with a textbook and when she was wondering the streets alone after she stormed out of her date with Jacob Coote.
He begins his life with her by saying that he doesn’t need any ‘complications’ and that it is all going perfectly without an ‘obnoxious creation’. Eventually they get to know each other and Josey works at his law chamber and begins to consider changing her last name to Andretti. Christina Alibrandi, Josie’s mum, is supportive of her daughter and has raised her on her own for her whole life, with the occasional help of her mother. Jacob Coote said: “You [Josephine] come across all tough and fearless while on the inside you’re a softy. She [Christina] comes a across a softy, whereas deep down she’s tough and fearless. Christina can be strong and honest when she needs to be and will do what she thinks is right, like suggesting to her daughter, the first time she met Jacob Coote and he was acting like a pig, that she didn’t think it would be good to let her go out with him again. She also is known to compromise, in letting Josie go out with him after she saw he’d smartened up a bit. She is like Josie, a dreamer. She says herself, “I wasn’t a rebel Italian [when I had you], I was a naive Italian. ” She’d give her very life for her daughter and she loves her mother very much, despite not admitting to it.
Katia Alibrandi, known as Nonna to Josie, is the mother of Christina. She felt things too, just as her daughter and grand-daughter; she describes herself as a youth to have been a “gypsie”. When she was younger and came to Australia with her husband, she was alone in the outback with little knowledge of the language. She had the help of an Australian man, Marcus Sandford, who loved her dearly and would do things for her, seeing as her husband would be away on work. She did not pursue a relationship with him; people were talking as it was. “People will talk” is the quote that she practically lives by.
The Italian community are known to ‘talk’. He came into her house one day and Christina was born nine months later. Marcus was going to take her away where nobody knew them, however, seeing as she’d defied her marriage so much, she at least had to stay with her husband. Her husband had lied to her all of these years, he could not have kids, however they stayed together. Nobody knew about Christina’s illegitimacy, Katia distanced herself from her because of it, until Josephine figured it out after finally taking interest in her grandmother, and she never told anybody.
Katia and Josie develop a good relationship, even though Christina must never know. Katia was strong and has memories, even though she is old-fashioned, just like how she would never accustom herself to Josie’s Australian boyfriend, who she has no knowledge of. Jacob Coote is the captain of Cook State Highschool. He is “deep and meaningful when he wants to be” in the words of Josie. He is with the ‘in’ crowd at Cook High. He has his pick of the girls and is popular and athletic. Jacob bullied Josephine when she was younger, not her specifically, however that was how life worked.
He then falls for her and defends her, he beats Greg Sims when he tries to rape her and his friends, her friend, in the McDonald’s car park where she worked before the law chamber. They go through their fights, however they have high prospects in their relationship by the end of the book. Jacob’s mum died when he was young. It did hurt him, however he tries to move on from it. He does think about it, sometimes, however he is contented in his life otherwise. He now lives with his dad, who drinks a bit, and has an older sister of about 24 years of age with her own family now.
Of course he naturally has prejudices against John Barton. John Barton grows up in a prissy world and has all of the doors open to him. He does enjoy it sometimes, however it isn’t really what he wants to do with his life. He is expected to do well; while Jacob and Josie aren’t expected to get far, and he’s prefer that. Ivy Lloyd, or Poison Ivy, decides that she owns him. John does quite like Josephine though. He tries to be diplomatic with things, although he does not want to enter politics as everyone expects him to.
By the end of the book, he commits suicide with a drug overdose right before his year twelve exams. That ruined the story for me, made me cry. Ivy and Josie begin to accept each other, however they are hurt as he was a true friend to them both. I can almost relate to John Barton, not the suicide, however in means of having pressure on him and having to meet expectations. I can understand that, because it is so real. All of these characters are real and this story is only too possible. The Italian Empire, where “people will talk” is real. It is very humorous actually, because it relates so much to my own life.
Illegitimacy being the end of the world, and how gossip can start in one place and everybody know. I understand the gender stereotypes and the important role of religion, in when Katia cannot leave her husband. It is fairly old-fashioned and stubborn, the things that Josie is restricted from doing, however that seriously is life, no doubt about that. You’d have to be there to know it, and I’m there. I’m a lot like Josephine. I can see how things aren’t fair, however I am able to accept them because decisions are made for me for my own good. Josephine says, “No way, Mama. If you say no I’ll accept it. I also do think, like Josephine does, that the entire world is crumbling around me and I can be a little inconsiderate at times, accidently of course. I’m learning about myself and growing up, just as she is. Only I’m not in year twelve yet, and I’m not in a leadership role, as much as I like to be a leader. The story is basically about growing up, which can be a challenge in itself, however the main complication is that she is Italian in an Australian world as previously outlined. It creates expectations and a way of life that may have been ethical in Italy, however not so in Australia.
Also, the Italians here haven’t modernised with the Italians back there. Things that seem ordinary here just won’t flow with the Italian community, things like widows and women with children marrying, and two unmarried people living together, problems that both Katia and Christina face, and that Josephine will too unless she can run from it as she says she will, “I’ll run one day. Run for my life. I’ll run to be free and think for myself. ” There isn’t really a resolution, except that Josie learns to accept who she is.
She may still want to run, however, for the time being, she is happy with it. She even says that it will be a part of her forever, her nationality, and even if she dislikes it sometimes it will always make her who she is: “You can’t hate what you’re a part of. What you are. I resent it most of the time, curse it always, but it will be a part of me till the day I die. ” Josie grows up, that is how it all works out. She learns more about the world around her, like the hardships that both her mother and her grandmother went through, and she becomes more aware of the world around her.
A major turning point is after the death of John, she suddenly realises that her life will always be what it is, and her deciding to get along with Ivy is another way of saying that she has gotten more mature, and that she understands. In the story, the way things progress, how relationships develop, and the steps that Josephine takes to grow up, all happen through the things that she encounters. She begins her journey at a public event where every school has to make a speech. Josephine represents her school, as Ivy is too busy talking to the Premier of the entire state.
There she meets Jacob Coote and doesn’t really know what to think about him, however he is impressed by his speech on the vote. However, she hardly considers herself interested, despite everyone, including herself, finding him attractive. We then meet her grandmother and get a glimpse of her family life. She sees her father for the first time when he shows up at her grandmother’s house, however they do not converse, as ‘Nonna’ does not know who he is, and he’s only an old neighbour so far. There is inter-school debating and Josie talks to John Barton. He is friendly and Josie gets along with him well.
They decide they will see a movie together for school. He would have been her ideal boyfriend. Ivy comes and steals him away, despite the fact that he is reluctant to go with her. He doesn’t get a chance to be with her at the school dance a while afterwards, being caught up with Ivy, seeing as he is in that crowd with her. Josie dances with Jacob Coote, who gives her a lift home on his motorbike, as much as she’d rather not ride on it. She finds out that his mother died when he was younger. He tries to kiss her, however she refuses, they agree that they are from two different worlds and he leaves on good terms with her.
Next is Josie’s second encounter with Michael Andretti at her grandmother’s house. She speaks to him after her mother. Everyone is very clear that they want nothing to do with him. It is then that her grandmother realises who is and his relation to the family, at that, she decides she would not want to see him again, however she doesn’t cause a fuss. Josie stays with her mother overnight and learns more about her. She begins to take an interest after realising that her grandmother was a seventeen year old once too.
She arrives at school and attends class where she overhears Carly Bishop bagging people of European descent, calling them ‘wogs’ as an insult. Josephine had taken it for years and finally had gotten sick of it. They argued and then Josie hit her with her ‘Concepts of Science’ textbook. She calls Michael Andretti, as he is a barrister to help her, seeing as she’d probably have been expelled and sued. He comes to her rescue, even though they’d agreed to never speak to each other again. On Friday, Josie speaks to Sister Louise, the headmaster of her school, as scheduled.
She realises that she does care and notices that she’s human, despite being a nun. Her mum goes out on a date for the first time. Josie and her grandmother are furious, however her mum has a good time and Josie accepts that. Whilst working at McDonald’s with her friend, Anna, Greg Sims, a boy who teased her as a child, enters with her friends. He would have been rude to her, however police came in to buy something so he leaves her be. They wait for her and Anna in the car park; they are ready to rape them both. Jacob Coote is just passing by with his friend, Anton, and he sees what is appening. He beats the living daylights out of Greg Sims. Anton takes Anna home, and they are quite fond of each other. Jacob takes Josie home. He asks her out, she considers it and decides to ask her mother. He agrees to meet her, only he’d never do that any other time and dislikes the idea. She talks to her mother who agrees to let her go out with him. Curiosity gets the better of Josephine as she asks her grandmother to see photos and to tell her about her life. She finds out about how she met Marcus Sandford in a post office and he would help her, seeing as she was alone in the country.
When her husband found out, he was furious and didn’t want to let her see him anymore. On Saturday, she goes on her date with Jacob. He is a pig to her mother in spite of the fact that he has to meet her. The date lasts ten minutes and she storms out of the cinema complex before even entering the movie. On the long walk home, her father is driving past and picks her up to go and get pizza. He tells her that ignoring her existence won’t make her go away and they begin to develop an understanding relationship. Her mother is not angry, only she isn’t too keen on Jacob Coote.
Josie is enjoying her job at Mac Michael and Sons law chamber. Her joy is shattered when she has coffee with John Barton ant they talk about life. He worries, her, saying things like, “I don’t think I want to live this life anymore, Josie. ” She is extremely worried and they decide to write on a piece of paper the way they feel and keep each other’s so that they can read them after graduation. It gives him a little hope, however she is still extremely concerned. Josephine talks with her friends and tells them that she’d like to be a barrister when she grows up.
Jacob Coote asks her out on another date. They decide they will wag school for it, not that she’d have ever dreamed of doing so in a million years. There won’t be any mother-meeting this time. They have a wonderful time and share in their first passionate kiss. On the mid-term holidays, Jacob gets a car. Her mum is supportive of them being together. There is the St. Martha’s Walk-a-thon. Josie leaves with her friends and is in major trouble with Sister Louise because it meant that the little kids were unsupervised. She goes to see that movie with John and Jacob sees them there.
They argue but they get over it. A couple of weeks later she is at his house for the first time. He would have liked to have sex with her, and she refuses it. After some conversation he accepts it. She finds out about Marcus Sandford being her real grandfather and promises not to tell if her grandmother accepts Michael Andretti. She talks to John Barton and he is cheery and happy and the day later at her year twelve exams she finds Ivy crying that he had killed himself. It is sad. She reads the note he wrote earlier that year and realises that it was what he wanted to do.
She attends the funeral. Jacob was also torn up; he was taking it harder than Josephine. He felt had something in common with John, somewhere, and he’d experienced death before and this probably reminded him of his mum. Only now I realise that he was happy because he knew he would do it. He even said only the day beforehand, “I’ve got my whole future planned out the way I want it to be and there is nothing anyone can do to take that away from me. ” It is sad, but also a good thing in a sense. It is what he wanted. I think Josephine learns to accept it a little at the end.
At the beginning of this book review, I though the ending was ridiculous and too sad. Now I understand more that it was really what John Barton wanted to do, kill himself. He was really looking forward to being able to run free, just like Josephine always said she’d wanted to do, even if that meant death for him. I like the ending, now I do. I now like that there was a challenge in figuring that out. Besides that, I liked that Jacob and Josephine ended up having a caring relationship and that they became incredibly happy. I like happily ever afters.
Throughout the book, I enjoyed that they were always able to become friends again after a fight. It made the book a lot more exciting. I also enjoyed how the book exhibits how relationships developed throughout the novel. It was interesting to read about the way emotions develop between characters, specifically Josephine and her father. It was thrilling to read how they learn things about each other and accept each other in their lives, and the way that the Alibrandi’s become comfortable with him. It is also good to see how Josie takes interest in her grandmother and she can confide in her.
I’d change the time she spends with her friends. I’d like them to have played a more prominent role, or not be included in the story, as they add little to the plot. It would’ve made me happy if she did not skip school. It just ruined a little of the part of her that I though resembled myself. I thought I’d have liked to change that John died. I now would not change that, it adds an important lesson for Josephine to learn on her journey of growing up. Death is something she had to learn to accept. However it could be in the blurb, it would ruin the story a little, although a warning would be nice for the light-hearted.
I’d have liked if Melina Marchetta would elaborate more and explain how he saw his death was ‘running free’. I wouldn’t have understood if I hadn’t written this essay. I learnt more about death from reading this. That pretty much sums it up. I never saw suicide as a relief or an escape, although it apparently can be. I picked up on a few facts that I’d have found in a history book, they were another factor that kept me engrossed in reading. This would be a good book for somebody of European descent. It made it highly enjoyable for me as so much is only too true.
It could possibly be aimed at someone a little older than myself, somebody who certainly has the insight to deal with suicide and not let it get to them. It has to be taken maturely, so possibly it would be a good story for the sixteen-and-up age group, however it does matter on the individual. ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ by Melina Marchetta is an extremely wonderful book, definitely worth reading and re-reading. It gave me a lot, and I can understand why people made such propaganda about reading it. I rate it ‘I
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