Carmelina Marchetta is an Australian writer and teacher known for her young adult fiction. She has achieved significant recognition in children's and young adult literature, winning major awards throughout her career. Marchetta's most celebrated works include Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, and On the Jellicoe Road. These novels have established her as a prominent voice in teen literature. Her work has been recognized with the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers on two occasions, in 1993 and 2004. On the Jellicoe Road earned particular international acclaim, winning the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, which recognizes the year's best book for young adults.