Coming of Age, Mystery, Young Adult Literature
"I don't know where I fit in" (2.4), Taylor tells us as she begins to explain the evidence that brought her to Jellicoe School. If that's not an indicator that we're reading a novel about a teenager gaining self-knowledge while on the journey from childhood to adulthood, we don't know what is. Jellicoe Road is all about Taylor's pilgrimage of self-discovery, leaving behind her childhood of memory gaps, unanswered questions, abuse, and neglect to be set free by the truth and relationships with a new family.
By the end of the story, Taylor does know where she fits in: "For the first time it occurs to me that I'm no longer flying solo," she tells us. "I have an aunt and I have a Griggs and this is what it's like to have connections with people" (26.8). A story that moves from uncertainty about where you belong to more clarity in that area screams "coming of age" literature to us. And since it's about a teenager and written in a teenage-friendly style, it's also YA lit.
But that's not all. Jellicoe Road may be primarily a young adult saga, but it also contains elements of mystery that drive the story forward. We've got a ton of questions at the start of the book—about who Taylor's parents are, who started the territory wars, why Taylor's mom abandoned her, and why Taylor keeps sensing a connection between her and Hannah. Gradually, through the snatches of Hannah's book and Taylor's interactions with others, we start to put the pieces together.
We don't think the Bible verse Hannah carves on the Prayer Tree as a young girl is a coincidence: "What is now covered up will be uncovered and every secret will be made known" (9.83). Isn't that what a mystery is, after all? Everyone in this book has secrets—the only question is whether Taylor will find out the truth.