Title: Jellicoe Road (Original Australian title: On the Jellicoe Road)
Author: Melina Marchetta

Publisher: HarperTeen
Edition: Kindle
Pages: 432
Originally published: 2010

Genre: YA
The dice landed on: 5
Did I finish?: Yes, oh yes.
Do I like the cover?: Yes I do.

One-sentence summary: Apart from bad memories of life with her mother Taylor Markham doesn’t know much about her own background, but there is much to learn.

There was an accident on the Jellicoe Road. A bad accident killing four adults and one child. The three children who lived, the boy who saved them and a friend aquired at a later time form a unique friendship.

Twenty-two years later another girl lives by the Jellicoe Road. Her name is Taylor Markham. Apart from not-very-happy-memories of life with her mother, she doesn’t really know anything about her background. After her mother left her by the Jellicoe Road she lived with a woman named Hannah, and now she lives at The Jellicoe School not far from Hannah’s house. Taylor has just become head of her house and is one of the school leaders in the annual territory war against the cadets and the townies. Being the leader of a house carries more responsibilities than Taylor feel ready to shoulder,  she doesn’t have the best people skills in the world, Hannah has disappeared and the cadet leader Jonah Griggs is a disturbing presence in Taylor’s life.

The characters are great, many dimensional and believable. The language is also very good.

As you might guess there are links between the kids from twenty-two years ago and Taylor, but the weaving together of the stories take unexpected turns. In many ways it’s a sad story, but not without a lot of hope and love. It’s a wonderful read for anyone who has the patience to wait while the story unfolds.

Melina Marchetta has published two other books…. I have to read them too.