The Tomorrow Series
A series by John Marsden

In Tomorrow, When the War Began, there is a group of teenagers on a camping trip in the Australian bush. They have a good time, they're wild and care-free, worried only about the imminent start of school and the usual boy and girl stuff. They come back from their adventure in a secluded canyon called Hell to find their homes deserted, they're families held prisoner, and their country invaded...

And if you're Australian -- a modern day, non-indigenous Australian -- then that is a concept difficult to imagine. Us Anglo-Celtic types, we're used to being the invaders. Our ancestors came to establish a penal colony here and ended up subduing the existing Aboriginal population and stuff. And by "stuff" I mean massacres, rapes and slavery. Oh, yeah, it's a proud history. Some would argue that similar travesties of justice and humanity are going on here still, but that is a matter for political debate, and since this is a series of books that is considered "Young Adult," it's just not... well, actually, yes, it is pertinent. 'Cause the lesson of these books is... it could be you.

We are told the tale through the painfully honest -- extremely Australian --voice of Ellie, a sixteen year-old sheep cockie (kind of like a rancher, for the uninformed) who lives with her parents in the not-entirely-fictional country town of Wirrawee. When she and her friends return from the place called Hell, they find a new Hell within as they discover that life as once they knew it is no more. Soldiers from an unnamed nation seek to redress the inequality of property division in the Asia Pacific region (in that Australia has so much more of it than anyone else), and so conquer most of the nation in one awful night of ruthless efficiency. The rest of the tale (all seven books worth) is taken up with how our group of teenagers -- Ellie, Homer, Robyn, Chris, Corrie, Kevin, Lee and Fiona -- fight back against the usurpers in an attempt to wrest their country back... and how they find out who they are along the way.

Homer is the class clown, hiding an indomitable will and an immense inner resolve; Robyn is the religious one, with an inner-peace and a quiet strength; Chris is the misunderstood genius; Corrie, the insecure sidekick; Kevin, the blustery bloke who's scared of his own cowardice. Lee is the pragmatic, sensitive soul and Fiona is the perfect little princess, who never puts a foot out of place. And then there's Ellie: frank, headstrong, steadfast Ellie, who knows what has to be done and does it, to save her friends, her home and her country from oppression, and death.

Throughout the books of the Tomorrow series, these characters develop and evolve in ways they could never have imagined in their comfortable, post-invasion worlds. Through staggering victories and crushing defeats, their greatest triumph is in their loyalty to each other; and in their courage. Marsden's words -- Ellie's words -- paint such a picture of all of them, their foibles and their weaknesses and their assets, that they become like old friends. And yet they're only sixteen.

This series is extraordinary, full of action, drama, suspense, self-sacrifice, and above all, love. It moved me, swayed me and shocked me to the core. The unsettling notion that war could come to where you live and take away all that you consider yours is terrifying: and yet, it is only when you realise what you have to lose that you learn what you have. And that what you have, you really want to keep.

Re-read Factor: Probably not for a while, but someday, someday. Whenever I feel I am taking the life of freedom too much for granted.

Sequel Factor: The seventh book, The Other Side of Dawn, was touted as the last, and the conclusion was in perfect keeping with the series. But I would welcome a companion novel, perhaps detailing certain events from other perspectives than our chronicler, Ellie's.

Strong Chick Factor: All of the girls in the group are bona fide heroes. From daring Ellie, who seems always to be the one to take the definitive action, to stalwart Robyn, gentle Corrie and delicate Fi, they all show themselves tempered, but not entirely hardened, by the horrors they must face. And Ellie just rules.

-- Rachel Hyland

The Tomorrow Series, published in Australia by Pan Macmillan and internationally by Laureleaf, is currently available in paperback.