Jellicoe Road, Melinda Marchetta

This book starts out being really confusing, but then it gradually begins to make sense. But I still don't get some aspects of the plot. Taylor Markham is 17 years old, and she was abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road, which is the seemingly beautiful road on which so many bad things take place. She is taken in by Hannah, who works at a boarding school, and she goes there for high school. But it's way more complicated than that. Taylor is battling her own emotions and her school is fighting a territory war with these Townies (from the Jellicoe Town) and the Cadets, Sydney boys   who come for six weeks to train every year. But it's set in the present day, so it's really weird.  Also, the leader of the cadets is Jonah Griggs, who once betrayed Taylor when she tried to run away at age 14 to find her mother. Though this book was confusing, there's something oddly beautiful about it, and there's an amazing cast of characters that support the plot. It was originally published in Australia under the name On the   Jellicoe Road. 419 pages, 3.25 stars.