Tomorrow, When the War Began (Tomorrow Series #1), Vol. 1
When Ellie and six of her friends return home from a camping trip deep in the bush, they find that their country has been invaded and everyone in town has been taken prisoner. Life-and-death decisions must be made as they struggle with how to survive. "A riveting adventure through which Marsden explores the capacity for evil and the necessity of working together to oppose it." -- Horn Book, starred review\ \ Seven Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the...
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When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they're leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong--horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured--including their families and all their friends. Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: They can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight.Publishers WeeklyScholastic will reissue the first two volumes in John Marsden's the Tomorrow series-Tomorrow, When the War Began and The Dead of Night-this month, and will feature them in its on-line summer-reading campaign (see Children's Bookshelf, June 8). One additional title will appear every other month. PW called the story of some Australian friends who return from a camping trip to discover that enemy forces have invaded the country and imprisoned everyone in town "a gripping tale." Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
\ Library JournalEllie and six of her friends are on holiday camping in the Australian bush when their country is invaded by a foreign enemy. They return home to discover that their friends and families have been herded into prison camps, their pets starving or killed outright. Thus begins a seven-book saga chronicling the adventures of a small band of teens determined to stay free and fight against impossible odds. Since their publication in the mid-1990s, the "Tomorrow" books have remained one of the best-selling series in Australia. Although the fictional invading army is never identified, the impact of war on civilians rings nonetheless true.—Angelina Benedetti, "35 Going on 13," BookSmack! 8/19/10\ \ \ \ \ Publishers Weekly\ - Publisher's Weekly\ Australian friends return from a camping trip in the outback to discover that enemy forces have invaded the country and imprisoned everyone in town. A gripping tale, told with Marsden's customary incisiveness. Ages 12-up. (Dec.)\ \ \ Publishers WeeklyScholastic will reissue the first two volumes in John Marsden's the Tomorrow series-Tomorrow, When the War Began and The Dead of Night-this month, and will feature them in its on-line summer-reading campaign (see Children's Bookshelf, June 8). One additional title will appear every other month. PW called the story of some Australian friends who return from a camping trip to discover that enemy forces have invaded the country and imprisoned everyone in town "a gripping tale." Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Children's Literature\ - Paula Demichel\ What would you do if you came home from a camping trip in the desert to find the houses in your neighborhood abandoned, food rotting, your pets dead, and the electric power cut off? A group of Australian teenagers finds just this situation when they return home after a week spent in the bush. When one of them finds a fax from his father warning them to hide out for safety, they decide to reconnoiter the fairground. What they see-armed soldiers guarding an enormous tent into which the people have been herded-forces the reluctant understanding that the country has been invaded. What now? A rescue attempt with no weapons? Where can weapons and food be found while the group decides what their policy will be? Where will they hide? Are they the only ones free? Marsden has crafted a survival story that no reader will be able to put down unfinished.\ \ \ \ \ KLIATT\ - Claire Rosser\ First published in Australia, this suspenseful series was reviewed extensively in KLIATT when released in the US in hardcover editions and also as audiobooks. Now, the volumes are available as trade paperbacks, and this is the chance for all YA libraries to get copies. The basic plot of the series is that a group of high school friends in Australia are away on a camping trip when their country is attacked and terrorized by an unnamed enemy. They become an insurgency group, doing whatever they can do to make things difficult for the occupying forces. Their parents and families have been placed in concentration camps, demoralized. The teenagers, making use of their intimate knowledge of their own hometown, stage raids and then retreat to the outback to regroup. The narrator is Ellie, who is filled with rage sometimes and remorse at other times. She is a realist, knowing that they have to do what they are doing if they expect to get their homeland back. All kinds of moral issues are raised. Also compelling are their feelings about each another. This represents the best of YA literature—exciting, honest, gripping. (Look for the final two books in the series to be released shortly—there are seven in all.)\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 8 Up-Australian teenager Ellie and six of her friends return from a winter break camping trip to find their homes burned or deserted, their families imprisoned, and their country occupied by a foreign military force in league with a band of disaffected Australians. As their shock wears off, the seven decide they must stick together if they are to survive. After a life-threatening skirmish with the occupiers, the teens retreat to their isolated campsite in the bush country and make plans to fight a guerilla war against the invaders. Writing in a distinct voice and showing rare intelligence and sensitivity, Ellie recounts their courageous battles against the Goliath in control of their land. She also records her feelings and observations about the romantic partnerships that develop within her small circle of friends, and shows how they mature and blossom during this time of crisis. Though readers are left wondering whether these heroes and heroines will survive (one is severely wounded at the end of the novel), Ellie's uncommonly honest and clear narration makes this coming-of-age adventure a story they won't forget. Fast-paced and provocative, it's a natural for book talking.-Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego\ \ \ \ \ From the Publisher"A riveting adventure through which Marsden explores the capacity for evil and the necessity of working together to oppose it." Horn Book, Starred\ \
