AAA: Appreciating Melina Marchetta

For my last AAA post, I’m here to appreciate of my favourite authors, Melina Marchetta. I am a HUGE fan of her contemporary work and since her books mean the world to me, it’s about time I say thanks!

When I think of Melina Marchetta, I smile a huge, dopey smile. The words genius, writing goddess and talented also come to mind. After joining the book blogging world last year and hearing endless and amazing things about Melina’s books, I finally picked up Saving Francesca and since then I haven’t looked back. Soon after, I got my hands on a copy of Looking for Alibrandi and I was blown away. Both Saving Francesca and Looking for Alibrandi are favourites of mine.

A few months back, I finally read On The Jellicoe Road and although I already thought Melina was amazing, this cemented my love for even more. I can’t express just how much I love this book, it’s magnificent. I’ve often been asked what my absolute favourite book is but I’ve never really had a proper answer. I’ve read plenty of absolutely amazing books but nothing that I could call my absolute all-time favourite – until On The Jellicoe Road. Just thinking about On The Jellicoe Road gets me teary. It’s the most creative piece of literature I’ve ever read. I have so many thoughts and feeling about it and I could talk about it for hours on end yet at the same time, whenever I think about it my brain turns to mush. I’ve tried (multiple times) to write a review for it but I struggle with what to say and so far haven't had much luck with writing it.

 

And just when I thought Melina couldn't get any more awesome, I recently found out that she’s written episodes for Dance Academy, one of my favourite TV shows.

 

Next month in September, Melina is stopping by Perth for a signing. To have the chance to meet Melina, who is not only the author of some of my favourite books, but my absolute all-time favourite? What a dream come true, I absolutely can’t wait!

Thank you, Melina. You have no idea how grateful I am for you and your amazing books, but hopefully this post gives you an idea just how much you mean to me. It’s writers like you who make me proud to be Australian.

 

Find Melina on: Goodreads | Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
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Author Bio: Melina Marchetta was born in Sydney Australia. Her first novel, Looking For Alibrandi was awarded the Children's Book Council of Australia award in 1993 and her second novel, Saving Francesca won the same award in 2004. Looking For Alibrandi was made into a major film in 2000 and won the Australian Film Institute Award for best Film and best adapted screen play, also written by the author. On the Jellicoe Road was released in 2006 and won the WAYRBA voted by teenagers in Western Australia in 2008. It also won the US Printz Medal in 2009 for excellence in YA literature. This was followed up by Finnikin of the Rock in 2008 which won the Aurealis Award for YA fantasy, The Piper's Son in 2010 which was shortlisted for the Qld Premier's Lit Award, NSW Premier's Lit Award, Prime Minister's Literary Awards, CBC awards and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Her follow up to Finnikin, Froi of the Exiles will be released in Australia in October and the US in March 2012.