What information is given about Josie's background? Refer to her family, education and class.

In Chapter One, we learn that Josie is seventeen-years-old and lives in Glebe, a suburb outside the Sydney city center. At home it’s just her and her mother Christina, and the two of them have a good yet erratic relationship. One minute they’re best friends, the other they’re yelling at each other. Another important person in her life is her grandmother, Nonna Katia, who constantly badgers Christina about how she’s raising Josie. When the three women get together, Josie compares it to World War III. Still, her sometimes hectic family life is only one of Josie’s problems. The other is her school, which is filled predominantly with rich and affluent students and families. Josie won a six-year scholarship to St. Martha’s, and from day one she’s felt disadvantaged, partly because of her lack of money, but also because of her cultural background.

Her grandmother may have been born in Italy, but both Christina and Josie were born in Australia, which makes Josie a second-generation Australian. This places her in the middle of two very different communities, neither of which fully accepts her. Furthermore, her mother had her at age 16 out of wedlock, which is very taboo in the Italian community, and among her peers at St. Martha’s. Though it’s been years since her classmates have mentioned her illegitimacy, Josie is convinced they still talk about it behind her back, which makes her feel even more like an outsider.