Publisher's synopsis
When Ellie and her friends return from a camping trip in the Australian bush, they find things hideously wrong – their families are gone. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in their town has been taken prisoner. As the reality of the situation hits them, they must make a decision – run and hide, give themselves up and be with their families, or fight back.
Somewhere out there Ellie and her friends are hiding.
They’re shocked, they’re frightened, they’re alone.
Their world has changed, with the speed of a slamming door.
They’ve got no weapons – except courage.
They’ve got no help – except themselves.
They’ve got nothing – except friendship.
How strong can you be, when the world is full of people trying to kill you?
Tomorrow, When the War Began is the first book in the bestselling series that has been translated and published all over the world.
It is the book that started the series that became the legend.
Awards
- Winner 1994 Australian Multicultural Children’s Book Award
- Winner 1995 KOALA Secondary Award
- Winner 1995 YABBA Fiction for Older Readers
- Winner 1995 WAYRBA for Older Readers
- Winner 1996 Fanfare Horn Book Best Book Award
- Winner 1998 BILBY Award for Older Readers
John Marsden was born in Victoria, Australia in 1950. He went to many different primary schools, and from an early age enjoyed the journeys into magical worlds that reading could provide. His teachers in Grade 4 and Grade 6 encouraged him to write, and at the age of nine he decided he wanted to become an author.
For seven years he attended The King’s School Parramatta, a strict military school in Sydney, and from there went on to the University of Sydney. However, he soon decided that a career in law looked too boring, so he dropped out and drifted around for nearly 10 years, trying different jobs, and earning just enough money to support himself.
When he was 28, he began a teaching course, which he loved from the start. Embarking on a teaching career, he also became more and more interested in writing, and in 1987 succeeded in getting his first book, So Much to Tell You, published. A string of huge hits followed, highlighted by the Tomorrow series and The Ellie Chronicles. John has now sold more than two and a half million books in Australia alone, but is also an international best-seller, with many major awards to his credit.
John’s interest in education has never waned. In 1998 he bought the Tye Estate, 850 acres of natural bush, on the northern edge of Melbourne, and later added the property next door. For eight years he ran enormously popular writers’ courses and camps at Tye, before starting his own school there, Candlebark, in 2006.
Candlebark is a P-8 school, which has been described by John as “somewhere between Steiner and The Simpsons”. Its friendly, lively and positive atmosphere has resulted in such early success that it has a four-year waiting list.
Visit John Marsden’s official website.
