Melina Marchetta facts for kids

Carmelina Marchetta, born on March 25, 1965, is a famous Australian writer and a former teacher. She is well-known for her popular teen novels like Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, and On the Jellicoe Road. Melina Marchetta has won many awards for her books. She received the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers twice, in 1993 and 2004. For her book On the Jellicoe Road, she won the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award in the United States. This award recognizes the best book for young adults each year.

Melina Marchetta's Early Life and Education

Melina Marchetta was born in Sydney, Australia, on March 25, 1965. She has Italian family roots and is the middle child of three sisters. Melina went to high school at Rosebank College in Sydney. She left school when she was fifteen because she wasn't sure about her school abilities.

After leaving school, she went to a business school. This helped her get jobs at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and later at a travel agency. These experiences gave her confidence to go back to studying. She earned a teaching degree from the Australian Catholic University. She then taught at St Mary's Cathedral College, Sydney in the heart of Sydney until 2006. Since then, she has been a full-time writer.

Looking for Alibrandi: A Big Success

Melina Marchetta's first novel, Looking for Alibrandi, came out in 1992. It was a huge hit, with the first printing selling out in just two months. This book has been published in 16 countries and translated into 11 languages.

Looking for Alibrandi won many awards for young adult fiction in 1993. These included the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers. The novel has sold over half a million copies around the world. Melina also wrote the screenplay for a film based on the book, Looking for Alibrandi, which was released in 1999.

More Popular Books and Awards

While Melina was writing the screenplay for Looking for Alibrandi, she also taught English, Italian, and History full-time for ten years. During this time, she released her second novel, Saving Francesca, in 2003. Her third novel, On the Jellicoe Road, followed in 2006. Both books have been published in many countries. Saving Francesca has been translated into four languages.

In the United States, On the Jellicoe Road won the 2009 Printz Award. This award is given for excellent writing in young adult literature.

Melina Marchetta's fourth novel was a fantasy story called Finnikin of the Rock. It was released in October 2008. This book also won awards, including the 2008 Aurealis Award for best young-adult novel. It was also shortlisted for the 2009 CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers.

Melina has also written short stories and opinion pieces for newspapers. She has visited many places around Australia as a writer-in-residence. Her fifth novel, The Piper's Son, came out in Australia in 2010. This book is connected to Saving Francesca but tells the story from another character's point of view.

Melina Marchetta has also worked on movie scripts for her books. She completed the screenplay for On the Jellicoe Road. In 2016, she published Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil. She also worked with Kathryn Barker on a book called When Rosie Met Jim/ Shoeboxes: Volume 22. In 2019, she released The Place on Dalhousie. Her most recent books are part of a junior fiction series called What Zola Did.

Melina Marchetta's Personal Life

Melina Marchetta lives in Sydney, Australia. She often visits schools to talk about her books with students. She also attends interviews, book signings, and book club meetings at libraries and bookshops.

Awards and Recognitions

Melina Marchetta has received many awards for her writing and screenplays:

• Won – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for Looking for Alibrandi (1993)
• Won – Film Critics Circle of Australia, Best Screenplay – Adapted for Looking for Alibrandi (2000)
• Won – New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Script Writing Award for Looking for Alibrandi (2000)
• Won – Australian Film Institute Award, Best Adapted Screenplay for Looking for Alibrandi (2000)
• Won – BILBY Award: Older Readers winner for Looking for Alibrandi (2000)
• Won – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for Saving Francesca (2004)
• Won – Aurealis Award, Young Adult Division, Best Long Fiction for Finnikin of the Rock (2008)
• Won – Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature for On the Jellicoe Road (2009)
• Won – New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Special Award

Screenwriting Work

Melina Marchetta wrote the screenplay for the film Looking for Alibrandi (1999). The movie starred Pia Miranda, Greta Scacchi, and Anthony La Paglia. The film was very successful and won five awards. These included an AFI award and an Independent Film Award for best screenplay. It also won the NSW Premier's Literary Award and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award.

In 2016, Melina Marchetta announced that she had finished the screenplay for a film based on On the Jellicoe Road. In December 2019, it was announced that an 8-part TV series based on the book was being made. Melina Marchetta was set to write the first episode.

Melina Marchetta's Books

• Looking for Alibrandi (1992), novel
• Looking for Alibrandi (1999), screenplay
• Saving Francesca (2003)
• On the Jellicoe Road (2006); U.S. title, Jellicoe Road (2008)
• Finnikin of the Rock (2008)
• The Piper's Son (March 2010)
• The Gorgon in the Gully: Pocket Money Puffins (September 2010)
• Froi of the Exiles (2011)
• Quintana of Charyn (2012)
• Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil (2016)
• When Rosie Met Jim/ Shoeboxes: Volume 22 (2017) with Kathryn Barker
• The Place on Dalhousie (2019)

What Zola Did Series

• What Zola Did on Monday (2020)
• What Zola Did on Tuesday (2020)
• What Zola Did on Wednesday (2020)
• What Zola Did on Thursday (2021)
• What Zola Did on Friday (2021)
• What Zola Did on Saturday (2021)
• What Zola Did on Sunday (2021)
• Zola and the Christmas Lights (2022)

See also

In Spanish: Melina Marchetta para niños