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John Barton
Ivy is the school captain of St. Martha’s and, for much of the novel, Josie thinks of her as an antagonist and refers to her as “Poison Ivy.” Ivy’s father is a wealthy, well-known doctor in Sydney, and Ivy hopes to follow in her father’s footsteps. Josie detests Ivy and assumes that she doesn’t have any cares in the world because of her wealth and social status. Ivy is the childhood friend of Josie’s love interest, John Barton, and seems perfect in every way—Josie perceives Ivy as smarter than she is, with hair that’s never out of place and a future that’s guaranteed to be bright and successful. The girls often find themselves at odds, since they have to see each other regularly in the course of their duties as school captain and vice captain. Because Josie sees Ivy as evil and dissimilar to her, it’s perplexing when John tells Josie that he’d like Josie to befriend Ivy—he doesn’t think the two girls are all that different. His reasoning only becomes clear after he commits suicide. After John’s death, Josie and Ivy find that they both relied on John’s friendship to feel grounded and secure. And they realize that they’re both equally afraid of the future after high school, and they were both driven throughout school by their dislike for the other. They decide that if they happen to run into each other in the future, they’ll have coffee and talk.
Ivy Lloyd “Poison Ivy” Quotes in Looking for Alibrandi
The Looking for Alibrandi quotes below are all either spoken by Ivy Lloyd “Poison Ivy” or refer to Ivy Lloyd “Poison Ivy”. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
We weren’t on the news that night. Poison Ivy was, because she was in the group that threw questions at the Premier. As usual she was there in Technicolor, sitting on top of the world. No matter how much I hate Poison Ivy, I want to belong to her world. The world of sleek haircuts and upper-class privileges. People who know famous people and lead educated lives. A world where I can be accepted.
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Chapter 4
Quotes
I could picture [Ivy’s] parents at dinner with [John’s]. They’d talk about politics, the arts and world affairs. Then I tried to picture them at dinner with Nonna and Mama. Not that I have ever been ashamed of them, by any means. But what would they talk about? The best way of making lasagna? Our families had nothing in common.
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Chapter 29
Quotes
Ivy was valedictorian, but then I never doubted that. Simply because I guess she deserved it more than me.
I met her at one stage in the ladies’ and I realized that she wasn’t Poison Ivy anymore. She was just Ivy. As scared as I was of what it meant to be out of our uniform. She smiled hesitantly and I smiled back, and I saw tears in her eyes.
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Ivy Lloyd “Poison Ivy” Quotes in Looking for Alibrandi
The Looking for Alibrandi quotes below are all either spoken by Ivy Lloyd “Poison Ivy” or refer to Ivy Lloyd “Poison Ivy”. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
We weren’t on the news that night. Poison Ivy was, because she was in the group that threw questions at the Premier. As usual she was there in Technicolor, sitting on top of the world. No matter how much I hate Poison Ivy, I want to belong to her world. The world of sleek haircuts and upper-class privileges. People who know famous people and lead educated lives. A world where I can be accepted.
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Chapter 4
Quotes
I could picture [Ivy’s] parents at dinner with [John’s]. They’d talk about politics, the arts and world affairs. Then I tried to picture them at dinner with Nonna and Mama. Not that I have ever been ashamed of them, by any means. But what would they talk about? The best way of making lasagna? Our families had nothing in common.
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Chapter 29
Quotes
Ivy was valedictorian, but then I never doubted that. Simply because I guess she deserved it more than me.
I met her at one stage in the ladies’ and I realized that she wasn’t Poison Ivy anymore. She was just Ivy. As scared as I was of what it meant to be out of our uniform. She smiled hesitantly and I smiled back, and I saw tears in her eyes.
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