''Looking for Alibrandi'' is the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

of Australian author

Melina Marchetta Carmelina Marchetta (born 25 March 1965) is an Australian writer and teacher. Marchetta is best known as the author of teen novels, '' Looking for Alibrandi'', ''Saving Francesca'' and '' On the Jellicoe Road''. She has twice been awarded the C ...

, published in 1992. A film adaptation of the same name was made in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Plot

The novel follows its protagonist, Josephine Alibrandi, the Italian-Australian daughter of Italian immigrant parents. Josie lives in Sydney and attends a Catholic high school–where she is disillusioned with the cliques and social politics of her snobby peers. Her usually sophisticated, sassy demeanour is challenged when she is overcome with the pressures of her senior year of high school: the suicide of a male friend, and meeting her estranged father who is in Sydney on a business trip. She confides in a young man with a bad reputation, who slowly turns into a romantic interest for Josie. This relationship, mirrored by the tumultuous relationship with her father, forms the centre complications of the novel as Josie tries to navigate through the complexities and hurdles she faces as a young adult.

Awards

* Won - CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1993) * Won - Books I Love Best Yearly: Older Readers Award (1995) * Won - Books I Love Best Yearly: Older Readers Award (2000)

Adaptations

The world premiere of the play ''Looking for Alibrandi'', based on the novel, was created and performed by the

PACT Youth Theatre The PACT Centre for Emerging Artists (short for "Producers Artists Curators Technicians Centre for Emerging Artists"), formerly Producers Authors Composers and Talent and PACT Youth Theatre, is an Australian performing arts organisation and thea ...

in Sydney in 1995. It sold out for three seasons, leading to the making of a film adaptation. The film '' Looking for Alibrandi'' (2000) starred

Pia Miranda Pia Miranda (born 15 June 1973) is an Australian actress whose career was launched with her role in the 2000 feature film '' Looking for Alibrandi'', an Australian film based on the novel of the same name by Melina Marchetta. She is also know ...

as Josephine Alibrandi,

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Pr ...

as her father, Michael Andretti, and

Kick Gurry Christopher "Kick" Gurry (born 25 May 1978) is an Australian actor. Gurry was born in Melbourne, Australia. He got his nickname when his brother could not say Christopher so he said "Kicker". When he got into high school, he shortened it to "K ...

as her boyfriend, Jacob Coote. Melina Marchetta wrote the screenplay. Playwright and comedian Vidya Rajan created another stage adaptation of the novel, which was directed by Stephen Nicolazzo in a production that played at the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. A ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in July 2022 and then at the Belvoir in Sydney in October.

Footnotes

1992 Australian novels Australian young adult novels Australian novels adapted into films Novels set in Sydney Novels by Melina Marchetta Aurealis Award-winning works CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award-winning works BILBY Award-winning works 1992 debut novels {{1990s-novel-stub