Looking for Alibrandi (novel)

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Looking for Alibrandi
First edition
Author	Melina Marchetta
Cover artist	Marina Messiha
Country	Australia
Language	English
Genre	Young adult novel, bildungsroman
Publisher	Penguin Australia/Orchard Books
Publication date	October 1992
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	260 pp
ISBN	0-531-30142-7
OCLC	39508243
LC Class	PZ7.M32855 Lo 1999
Followed by	Saving Francesca, 2003

Looking for Alibrandi is the debut novel of Australian author Melina Marchetta, published in 1992. A film adaptation was made in 2000.

Plot[]

The novel follows its protagonist, Josephine Alibrandi, the Australian Italian daughter of Italian immigrant parents. Josie lives in Sydney and attends a Catholic high school–where she is disillusioned with the cliques and social politics of her snobby peers. Her usually sophisticated, sassy demeanour is challenged when she is overcome with the pressures of her senior year of high school: the suicide of a male friend, and meeting her estranged father who is in Sydney on a business trip. She confides in a young man with a bad reputation, who slowly turns into a romantic interest for Josie. This relationship, mirrored by the tumultuous relationship with her father, forms the centre complications of the novel as Josie tries to navigate through the complexities and hurdles she faces as a young adult.

Awards[]

Won - CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1993)
Won - Books I Love Best Yearly: Older Readers Award (1995)
Won - Books I Love Best Yearly: Older Readers Award (2000)

Film adaptation[]

Looking for Alibrandi (2000) starred Pia Miranda as Josephine Alibrandi, Anthony LaPaglia as her father, Michael Andretti, and Kick Gurry as her boyfriend, Jacob Coote. Melina Marchetta wrote the screenplay.^[1]

Footnotes[]

^ Looking for Alibrandi at IMDb

v t Works by Melina Marchetta
Novels	Looking for Alibrandi (1993) On the Jellicoe Road (2006) Finnikin of the Rock (2008)
Lumatere Chronicles	Finnikin of the Rock (2008) Froi of the Exiles (2011) Quintana of Charyn (2012)
Film adaptations	Looking for Alibrandi (2000)

v t Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers
1946–1949	The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946) Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948)
1950–1959	Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950) Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951) The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952) Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953) Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953) Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954) The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955) The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956) The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957) Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958) Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959) Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959)
1960–1969	All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960) Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961) The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962) Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962) The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963) The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964) Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965) Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966) The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968) When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969)
1970–1979	Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970) Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972) Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973) The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974) Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976) The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977) The Ice is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manly (1979)
1980–1989	Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980) Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981) The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982) Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983) A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985) The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986) All We Know by Simon French (1987) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989)
1990–1999	Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994) Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995) Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995) Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996) A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997) Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998) Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999)
2000–2009	48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000) Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001) Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002) The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004) The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005) The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007) The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009)
2010–present	Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010) The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011) The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013) Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014) The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015) Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016) One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017) Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood And Simmone Howell (2018) Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019)
2020–present	This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020)
Picture Book (1955–present) Early Childhood (2001–present) Younger Readers (1982–present) Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present)

Books I Love Best Yearly: Older Readers Award

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend (1990)
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton (1991)
Where's Wally? by Martin Handford (1992)
Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews (1993)
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1995)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1996)
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (1997)
Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden (1998)
Bumface by Morris Gleitzman (1999)
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (2000)
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (2001)
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (2002)
Two of a Kind series by various authors (2003)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (2004)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (2005)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (2006)
Eragon by Christopher Paolini (2007)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (2008)
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2009)
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (2010)
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (2011)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2012)
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (2013)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (2014)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (2015)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (2016)

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