In the beginning of Looking for Alibrandi it is evident that Josie is conflicted about her heritage. She is unsure where she belongs and just wants to fit in. “I think I had it worst. My mother was born here so as far as the Italians were concerned we weren’t completely one of them. Yet because my grandparents were born in Italy we weren’t completely Australian.” At times she is embarrassed about her Italian …show more content…
The one thing that they had in common was that they didn’t fit in with any of the other groups in school. All of the girls in the group are individuals, “Our group represents all types…” Outside of school she was close friends with John Barton, the son of a government minister. Although good-looking and popular John was not happy because he felt pressure to be what he was not. It was this constant pressure that led him to commit suicide.
Josie and “Poison Ivy” were fierce competitors at school and did not get along. They were both friends with John and he was able to see that they were actually quite alike. After John dies Josie’s relationship with Poison Ivy starts to thaw and she realises “…that she wasn’t Poison Ivy any more. She was just Ivy.” They understood that their rivalry ultimately drove them both to success in the HSC. Ivy says, “I‘m only Dux because I didn’t want you to be… I worked harder because of you. You got on my nerves a lot.
Yeah, well, I only excelled in English to beat you.” It took a great tragedy for these two to finally realise how alike they actually