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Looking for Alibrandi is filled with conflict and warfare, it is what makes the book interesting and us hooked on what will happen next. Fundamentally the characters and situations in the novel help us understand the difficulties teenagers go through everyday. It is through such conflicts that we can see the cultural traditions, family relationships and pressures of life that Josie faces.

One of Josie’s hardships she has to go through is the struggles from her mother, father and nonna. In most modern day families it is all too common for the parents to be divorced, and everyday it becomes more and more accepting and normal. In Josie’s case she never really thought of her distant father, “My mother had told me about him once and once only. I’ve never heard his name mentioned since.” So obviously neither of Josie or Christina cared about Michael, Josie’s biological father. And when Josie finally meets her father she has never met she gets angry and upsets, and feels like she wants to hurt him like he has to her mother for 16 years. Josie chooses to act cold towards for father until he saves her from getting expelled and sued from hitting poison ivy with a science book. Their relationship grows when Michael takes her to Adelaide and proves how much of a caring protective father figure he is. As we move onto Nonna we she that Josie thinks she is too overbearing and selfish who is constantly worried about her and how she is portrayed in the Italian community. As soon as Nonna opens up to Josie about her life and the hardships she had to go through, “He treated me like one of his farm animals” she states. Josie realizes Nonna is just trying to protect her like she had to protect Christina and comes to the conclusion that she is in fact “loved by the two most strongest women she could ever meet.” As for Christina, Josie see her as nothing but an over protective, annoying mother who won’t let her hang out with her friends. But as the story develops Josie learns that her life is much more different then her mothers and that being a single mother is very difficult and lonesome.

Josie being in her last year of high school and brink of adulthood has a series of pressures and struggles she has to deal with. For instance Josie is an outsider in the Italian community, she also feels out of place at her school since her family isn’t wealthy like the other students. “Nonna says we’re lucky to be included. Because we’re cursed we don’t really belong.” There is also pressures to have relationships with boys at her age for instance Josie has big plans with a John a school captain but also forges a relationship with Jacob from Cook High. And also dealing with the death of John Barton after he takes his own life and Josie has to burn the suicide letter and move on. John Barton being the prime example of expectations and intense pressure from his family. There is a lot of social pressure as well going on in Josie’s life, such as passing her HSC and dressing a certain way to fit in with the rest of the crowd.

A very important issue in Josie and her family’s life is cultural tradition. She is very confused searching to find where she truly belongs in two different cultures. These being Italian and Australian. She feels the need to rebel against the stereotypical female in Italian culture and wants to step away from that life and its responsibilities. She aspires to be the “first Alibrandi female to take control of her life.” Josie is a trouble maker which has a lot to do with nonna and her constant remarks such as “You brake my heart”, “I deserve respect” and hates the fact that her nonna’s friends always report to her what Josie is upto. This is not only Josie’s family but each generation of immigrants struggling to find their place in Australia sociert and defining their own identity.

In conclusion the main theme in the book Looking for Alibrandi is the series of conflicts that go on. This theme is exposed by the main hassles of Josie’s life: unsteady cultural traditions, rocky family relationships and the pressures of being a teenaged girl. This theme is important because it shows us that conflict in families and not feeling like you fit in or feel comfortable in social situations is normal.