Looking for Alibrandi is the story of Josie's experiences at school and her relationships with friends and family during her final year at St. Matha Girls' School. She faces many challenges, especially with her changing identity as a second-generation Italian immigrant in a predominantly white school. She is subject to discrimination due to her culture and tradition. Josie also faces elements of classism as she does not have the wealth of some of her classmates. Throughout the book, many Australian cultural boundaries and prejudices are crossed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The important cultural divides described in the book are crossed in many ways, most prominently by romantic relationships. For example, the strong parallel between Josie's relationship with an Australian boy named Jacob and her grandmother's secret relationship with Marcus Sandford when she first emigrated to Australia. Both of these relationships overcome the cultural divides caused by the separation of the Italian and Australian cultures, especially for Nonna as when she first immigrated there was almost no contact between the different cultures. Even though when Josie and Jacob start dating the gap isn't as much as that experienced by Grandma Katia, there are still clear differences between the two. Josie's life, for example, is governed by strict guidelines, curfews, and cultural traditions that are in direct contrast to her boyfriend Jacob's relaxed home life. There are multiple times where it is shown that it is difficult for them to understand each other, such as when Jacob wants to take Josie out but is told that he has to meet his mother first. Jacob takes this as a sign of distrust, however, it's simply something more cultural that he learns to understand. Another cultural boundary that must be crossed is social class. It is shown that Josie has less money than most of her peers and this adds to her feelings of an outsider. These feelings also have negative consequences for those around her as she doesn't think it's possible that people with more money or higher social standing could still have problems. This boundary is broken for Josie primarily by John Barton's suicide. He was wealthy, from a wealthy family, and had seemingly endless possibilities, yet he chose to take his own life. This is a heartbreaking wake-up call for her: although people may seem different due to their status, they are all the same. After this event, Josie also discovers that Poison Ivy, her archenemy, also has her own struggles and can actually relate to Josie in ways neither of them would have expected. The boundary of social class is also shown in the relationship between Jacob and Josie. . She often feels as if he is too far away from his private school life for them to last, for example on page 289 Josie says 'He was wearing his sports clothes and had his hair in a little ponytail. When I looked at my long uniform, black socks and black shoes, starched blazer and classic tie, I wondered if we would ever find a niche together.' This prejudice manifests itself in many forms throughout their relationship, especially in the way Jacob speaks. When the two are together, Josie almost always modifies her speech to make it sound proper and upper class. As their relationship and they begin to get to know each other, superficial issues such as the type of clothes they wear become less important, further breaking Josie's perception of lower-class people. Please note: this is just an example. Get a document now.'