Looking For Alibrandi By Melina Marchetta

"Looking for Alibrandi” by Melina Marchetta, tells the story of Josephine Albrandi, a seventeen-year-old girl who struggles to find her identity. Marchetta explores a range of conflicts through Josephine. Her struggles of her growing up racism and stereotypes of an Italians. Marchetta takes us on Josie's journey of self-discovery.
Marchetta uses the issues of growing up to explain the conflict. At the beginning of the book, the author portrays Josephine as a pessimistic. She always complained about how strict her culture is and that she would rather, “…run one day… to be emancipated.” Her family was not the typical family that had both parents and siblings. Instead, it was out of the norm of how we view family. Since Josephine grew up in a multicultural society there is a conflict between what Josephine values and what her mother and Nonna

Conflict at school Josie feels like she and her friends are the outcasts of the school “Our group represents all types, yet we hadn’t fitted into any of them in Year 7”. Marchetta shows how Josephine doesn’t fit into the Italian or Australian community because of her illegitimacy and the racism shown towards her. Being labeled names such as Wog “she’s the stereotype of a wog yet she doesn’t give a damn” (p.20). This kind of prejudice and racism is one of the unsightly aspects Josie has to deal with because she comes from an Italian background. New Australian and Ethnic are terms that Josie hates being called and this leads to her hitting Carly Bishop with her science book. Marchetta emphasizes acceptance within different cultures. The cultural difference Marchetta is exploring, how Josephine does not initially think of herself as being from a different racial background. Throughout the novel, Marchetta develops her growth into accepting her Italian culture "Because finally, I understood" (p.261). Marchetta concludes Josie accepting her Italian Background and also other cultures within her