Looking for Alibrandi Chapter Summary

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta Chapter Summaries Chapter 1  Josephine Alibrandi is beginning beginning a new school school year as the vice-captain of St Martha’s school in Sydney. She promises to be good but already gets in trouble on the rst day. Josie introduces herself to the reader as an !talian living in Australia. She lives with her mother" who had her before she was married" doesn’t #now her father" and has a close relationship with both her mother and nonna $grandmother%. &hen Josie arrives home after school" her mother tells her that her father" Michael Andretti" is in town une'pectedly.

 Josie is surprised that that John is having problems" problems" because his life is what she has always dreamed of. Josie gets a new 6ob at Mconalds. Chapter 7  Josie goes to the school dance in a dress that that her nonna made her. Jacob and John are both there" and Jacob dances with her for most of the night. Jacob gives Josie a lift home on his motorbi#e and tells her that his mother died. 0hey tal# about the dierences in their families" and Josie says that he has to meet her mother if he wants to date her. Jacob is angry" and they decide to forget trying to get together. Chapter 8

Chapter (  Josie introduces introduces her friends) Sera" Anna and *ee" and and her school enemy) !vy *loyd $+oison !vy%. Josie also participates in ,ave a Say ay’" where she sits ne't to Jacob Coote" the captain of Coo# igh" a local public school. e teases and /irts with her. Jacob ma#es a speech about ma#ing the most of freedom. 0he speech aects Josie. Chapter 2  Josie visits her grandmother grandmother and e'amines e'amines the fact that she is illegitimate. She has an argument with her grandmother" who Josie thin#s is too hard on her mother. Michael" Josie’s father" shows up une'pectedly" and Josie gives him a clue that she could be his child. Josie also e'plores her frustration frustration with her culture. Chapter 3  Josie has a tal# with with John 4arton" a boy boy that she has a crush on and respects" after the school debate. She comments on the polarisation of their two families" and he tal#s about his father’s e'pectations on him with 5uite a bit of bitterness.

 Josie and her mother" mother" Christina" goes to her nonna’s place place for a family 449. Michael Andretti is also there. Josie overhears a conversation between Christina and Michael" and it is clear how much Josie means to her mother and how much Michael doesn’t want to be involved with Josie. Josie confronts Michael" and they agree to #eep their distance from each other. other. Josie tal#s about this with her mother and as#s her what her mother dreamed of when she was 1:. Chapter :  Josie and her mother mother spend ;aster ;aster with the family. family. Josie ends up having to spend the night with her nonna" and nonna tells  Josie that she used to be a beautiful beautiful woman. She tells Josie Josie about moving to Australia with her husband and how di
angry at this and hits Carly i n the face with a boo#. Carly’s father" an in/uential 0> personality" wants to sue Josie for brea#ing Carly’s nose. Josie tells them that her father is a lawyer and calls Michael to come help her. e arrives and sorts the situation out. Josie i s e'tremely proud to leave school with her father and intentionally tal#s about his wor# so that everyone will #now he is a lawyer. Chapter ? Sister *ouise reveals that she #nows what i s happening in  Josie’s life and is worried about how she is coping with it all.  Josie’s mother" Christina" and her grandmother ght when Christina wants to go out on a date. After her grandmother leaves" Josie is also rude about her mother’s date" and they ght. Chapter 1@ A local bully who used to live ne't door to Josie" reg Sims" threatens Josie and her friend Anna after wor# at Mconald’s.  Jacob Coote and his friend Anton rescue them from the attac#. Jacob ta#es Josie home and as#s her out on a date" agreeing that he will meet her mother. Chapter 11 After apologising for the way she acted when her mother when her mother went on a date" Josie as#s if she can go out with Jacob. Christina agrees" though has a conversation with  Josie about how Jacob will be wanting to have se' with her. Chapter 1(  Josie spends the afternoon with her grandmother" loo#ing through old photo albums. er nonna tells her stories of the di
!taly" nonna bro#e down at the post o
Chapter 1:  Josie is getting to #now her father better through wor#ing with him and ta#ing a trip to Adelaide with him. Josie nds out a little about the feelings her father once had for her mother and realises that she en6oys having Michael around. Chapter 1= +oison !vy calls Josie a ,new Australian’ and accuses Josie’s ancestors of #illing her grandfather in the war. 0hey argue about what it is to be Australian and also ght about John 4arton" who they both have had feelings for. Jacob pic#s Josie up in his new car" and Josie realises she has strong feelings for him" but wonders if he also thin#s of her as a ,new Australian’. Chapter 1?  Josie participates in ,0omato ay’" an !talian family tradition where all of her relatives spend the day coo#ing and bottling tomato sauce. Josie realises that" whether she li#es them or not" some traditions are so strongly and deeply a part of her that she cannot ignore them. She also hears more about nonna’s husband and is told that all !talian men were put into a camp for ,aliens’ during the war years. uring that time" Marcus helped nonna around the house. Chapter (@  Josie abandons her duty as supervisor at the school wal#-athon to follow her friends who are going to see if they can nd a pop star who is in town. Sister *ouise nds out and accuses Josie of conforming and being li#e a ,sheep’. She also tells Josie that she was elected captain of the school" but that Sister *ouise didn’t thin# she could handle it and made her vice-captain instead. Josie realises that what she did was wrong and apologises" and also realises that she is much more popular at school than she thought.

Chapter (1  Josie goes to see Macbeth  with John" but Jacob" who is also at the movies with his friends" thin#s that Josie is cheating on him. e confronts Josie" who is then forced to consider her true feelings for John and Jacob" as well as her pre6udices about other people’s bac#grounds. Chapter ((  Josie and her mother spend a nice day together. Josie wishes her mother and father would nd a way to get bac# together. Chapter (2  Josie’s grandmother tells her about the Australian" Marcus Sandford" who once loved her" and how she had to send him away because of the scandal that would have caused. Josie begins to respect her nonna even more. Chapter (3  Jacob and Josie argue when she refuses to introduce him to her grandmother. 0he following day Josie goes to Jacob’s house and meets her father. *ater they ma#e out" and Jacob wants to go further. Josie tells him that she is not ready to have se' wit him. Chapter (7  Josie’s world is turned upside down when she realises that her grandmother has lied to her. A chance remar# that nonna made about Josie’s grandfather being out of time when Christina was conceived reveals that nonna was unfaithful to her !talian husband and that the Australian" Marcus Sandford" is actually Christina’s father. 0his changes how Josie feels about herself. Chapter (8

 Josie reconciles with her grandmother who e'plains the di
with !vy. *ater in the evening" Josie’s father tells her that he is proud of her and wants her to ta#e on his name. She isn’t sure what to do because she has a strong connection with her mother and nonna" and doesn’t want them to feel re6ected. Chapter 2@  Jacob brea#s up with Josie" telling her that they are too dierent to be together" that he is confused and that he needs to nd out who he is by himself. e also reassures  Josie that she did the right thing by not having se' with him. Chapter 21  0he e'ams are over" and Josie is still devastated by the loss of both John and Jacob in her life. She meets up with her friends who try to console her. Sera admits that things are not going so well with her boyfriend" and *ee admits that she has slept with her boyfriend but wishes she had waited. Chapter 2(  Josie re/ects on her year and realises that she has come to an understanding of who she is really is in relation to her school" family and community. She understands herself much better and is free.