Shelby Phelan

Shelby Phelan
Jellicoe Road
Melina Marchetta
Fiction
Challenge
Page- 122

1. In this book, Taylor Markam is the leader of her house at the Jellicoe boarding school. She was abandoned on Jellicoe Road by her mother at the age of eleven. A woman named Hannah found her and acted as her guardian very soon after she was abandoned. Hannah has gone missing, but left a note for the principal at the school. The note is very breif, stating that she had to go take care of a friend who is very ill. Taylor is worried, because when she goes to visit Hannah, her doors are locked. She knows Hannah never locks her door. She leaves her bike by the side of the road, and goes around the back of the house. She starts getting the uneasy feeling that she is being watched. She hears footsteps and begins backing away. The footsteps began to grow closer and becoming scared, she turns and sprints back to the road. But she soon realizes that her bike is gone. At first, Taylor thinks that the footsteps are just from one of the other teams in the territory wars at school, but then realizes that there would be more than just one. She sprints back to her dorm and locks the door tightly behind her. Later that week, her bike reappears at her doorstep.

2. I am enjoying this book so far, but it is very confusing. The book switches off have the font normal and italicized, and I think the normal font is about Taylor, and the italicized font is about five kids who lived on Jellicoe road eighteen years before Taylor. She often talks abo ut a dream she is having with a boy in a tree, and then the book also related back to times previously in Taylor's life. It says and old hermit whispered in her ear and then killed himself, but I don't understand when and how this relates to the rest of the story. It also says that many years ago, she ran off with a Cadet named Jonah Griggs to try to find her mother, but when they are about two hours away, he calls someone and they get talen back to Jellicoe Road. At the way beginning, the font is italicized and speaks of a car accident killing some kid's parents. It also talks about the different parts in the territory wars and the 'Townies', the 'Cadets', and lots of others. There are also a ton of characters. I don't understand how each part of the story relates to the others.

3. I think the theme in this book is loss. Taylor's mother abandoned her, the kids in the car accident lost their parents, there is a serial killer taking teens from all over austrailia, and Hannah has gone missing. It explains breifly about newspaper clippings some of the girls in Taylor's dorm had with pictures of the missing kids, and the sadness on the faces of the parents. The parents have had such a huge loss, their faces show it. Taylor doesn't know who her father was, and her has lost both her parents, as her mother abandoned her. The kids who's parents died in the car accident I think probably have had the greatest loss. This book may sound slightly morbid, but these things are just the theme of the book, as most of it is about Taylor, and the territory wars so far.

4. My favorite character is Taylor because she is really tolerant of people. She is the house leader and has to put up with younger students day and night, and she also has to be tolerant in the territory wars. These wars are where different schools and different parts of town team up to win more territory. At first I thought these wars would be more peaceful, and more childish, but some of the groups, especially the Cadets are really hurting people and beating them up. I dont't think the adults in the town really know this because the people who are beat up always come up with excuses such as starting football. As I said, it is very confusing, but Taylor is my favorite character.

5. My least favorite character is Jonah Griggs. He is one of the main people who beat the other people up in the territory wars, and stopped Taylor from finding out who her mom it just hours away. So far, his reasons have not been explained, but i'm sure that by the end of the book I will find out that he is not the person he is portrayed to be at the beginning. he cares a lot for Taylor becasue they talked for days on the train, and while he found out everything there is to know about her, she found virtually nothing out about him.

6. I predict that Hannah's disappearance will have something to do with the serial killer on the loose, or Taylor's mother. I think that Taylor will find out about her mom and will then learn that Jonah was only trying to do what was right for her. I think that the author will explain more about how the pieces of the story fit together.