Melina Marchetta facts for kids

Melina Marchetta (born March 25, 1965) is a well-known Australian writer and a former teacher. She is famous for her books for young adults, especially Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, and On the Jellicoe Road.

Melina has won the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers twice. In 2009, she also won the Michael L. Printz Award for On the Jellicoe Road. This award is given in America for the best book for young adults.

About Melina Marchetta's Life

Her Early Life and Schooling

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 skills. Later, she went to a business school. This helped her get jobs at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and a travel agency. These experiences gave her the confidence to go back to studying.

Becoming a Teacher and Writer

Melina then earned a teaching degree from the Australian Catholic University. She taught English, Italian, and History at St Mary's Cathedral College, Sydney for ten years. She taught there until 2006. After that, she became a full-time writer.

Her Famous Books

Looking for Alibrandi

Melina Marchetta's first book, Looking for Alibrandi, came out in 1992. It was a huge success, selling out its first print run in just two months! This book has been published in 16 countries and translated into 11 languages.

In 1993, Looking for Alibrandi won many awards for young adult fiction. One of the biggest was the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers. People even called it "the most stolen library book" because it was so popular! More than half a million copies have been sold worldwide. Melina also wrote the movie script for the film Looking for Alibrandi, which was released in 1999.

Other Popular Novels

While she was teaching, Melina wrote more books. Her second novel, Saving Francesca, was released in 2003. Then came On the Jellicoe Road in 2006. Both of these books have been published in many countries. Saving Francesca has been translated into four languages.

On the Jellicoe Road won the 2009 Printz Award in the U.S. This award celebrates excellent books for young adult readers.

Fantasy and Other Stories

Melina's fourth novel was a fantasy story called Finnikin of the Rock, published in 2008. This book also won awards, like 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.

She has also written shorter stories. One of them, Twelve Minutes, was part of a collection called "10 Short Stories You Must Read This Year." Melina has also written articles for newspapers like The Sydney Morning Herald.

Her fifth novel, The Piper's Son, came out in 2010. It tells a story connected to Saving Francesca, but from a different character's point of view.

More recently, Melina published Tell The Truth, Shame The Devil in 2016. 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. Melina has also started a series for younger readers called What Zola Did.

Melina's Screenplays

Melina Marchetta wrote the movie script for Looking for Alibrandi (1999). The movie was very successful. It won five awards, including an AFI award for best screenplay.

She has also been working on turning On the Jellicoe Road into a movie or TV series. In 2016, she announced that the script was finished. In 2019, it was announced that an 8-part TV series based on On the Jellicoe Road is being made. Melina will write the first episode.

Connecting with Readers

Melina Marchetta lives in Sydney. She often visits schools to talk about her books with students. She also attends interviews, book signings, and book club meetings at libraries and bookstores. She loves to share her stories and ideas with her readers.

Awards and Recognitions

Melina Marchetta has won many awards for her writing:

• 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)
• Winner – New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Special Award

Her Books and Series

Here are some of Melina Marchetta's books and series:

• Looking for Alibrandi (1992), novel
• On the Jellicoe Road (2006); U.S. title, Jellicoe Road (2008)
• The Gorgon in the Gully: Pocket Money Puffins (September 2010)
• Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil (2016)
• When Rosie Met Jim/ Shoeboxes: Volume 22 (2017) with Kathryn Barker

The Saving Francesca Series

• Saving Francesca (2003)
• The Piper's Son (March 2010)
• The Place on Dalhousie (2019)

The Lumatere Chronicles (Fantasy Series)

• Finnikin of the Rock (2008)
• Froi of the Exiles (2011)
• Quintana of Charyn (2012)

What Zola Did (Illustrated 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