“Oh, you've outdone me twice now, you queen of forgiveness. The ring's a promise of peace and I'm greedy with hope. It's a song that we sing in a tongue that we share. And though you say it's a gift from a king to a king, I say it's a sign from a queen to a queen.”

Australian writer and teacher

Melina Marchetta is an Australian writer and teacher, known for her young adult novels and for the books that have made her a familiar name in contemporary Australian fiction. She is best known for Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca and On the Jellicoe Road. Her work has been recognised with the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers twice, in 1993 and 2004, and with the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award for Jellicoe Road, given by the American Library Association for the year's best book for young adults.