Tomorrow (Marsden)

When Ellie and six of her friends return home from a camping trip deep in the bush, they find things hideously wrong - their families gone, houses empty and abandoned, pets and stock dead. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in the town has been taken prisoner. As the horrible reality of the situation becomes evident they have to make a life-and-death decision: to run back into the bush and hide, to give themselves up to be with their families, or to stay and try to fight. This reveting, tautly-drawn novel seems at times to be only a step away from today's headlines.

Australia has been invaded. Nothing is as it was. Six teenagers are living out their nightmare in the sanctuary of a hidden valley called Hell. Alone, they make their own rules, protect what is theirs, and struggle for courage and hope in a world changed forever. Seeking supplies, allies, and information, the friends make forays into enemy territory, drawing on nerve and resourcefulness they never even knew they had. As the risks become greater, so too do the sacrifices they must make. Intense, passionate, and compulsive, The Dead of Night continues the frighteningly real story begun in Tomorrow, When the War Began.

Ellie and her friends had been rescued. Airlifted out of their own country to the safe haven of New Zealand, they'd arrived burnt and injured and shocked, with broken bones, and scars inside and out. They did not want to go back. But five months later the war is not over, the nightmares continue, and there are two compelling reasons for them to return: a planned sabotage of the air base in Wirrawee and, most important, the families they left behind. In this episode of the tale begun in Tomorrow, When the War Began and continued in The Dead of Night and A Killing Frost, John Marsden takes us back to Hell, the outpost for a group of teens in a war-ravaged country.

From Hell to Stratton isn't an easy trip, especially when the enemy's headquarters lies somewhere in between. And that's exactly where Ellie and her friends unwillingly find themselves-smack in the middle of the Wirrawee airfield. With only five of them against hundreds of armed soldiers, escape seems like a suicide mission. The odds aren't good, and Kevin's nervous breakdown isn't helping matters. Ellie and her compatriots are back, battling to stay alive and struggling to stay together in John Marsden's latest book in the TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN series. High-speed truck chases, unexpected river journeys, and treachery by one of their own are just a few of the problems these Australian teens face in this gritty tale of war and survival.

Hell's a big place, but it gets crowded when Ellie and her friends take an uncooperative crew of orphans under their wing and into their hidden refuge. It's not easy to keep four young children busy and happy in the bush, and things only get worse when Ellie and Homer find evidence that mysterious visitors have discovered their sanctuary. Could it be a patrol of enemy soldiers sent on a search and destroy mission? They find out all too soon. In a time and place where war robs your identity, makes you forget your past and fear your future, it seems impossible for Ellie to make sense of a world that is quickly falling apart. And after a peaceful food raid turns into a nightmarish fight for survival, escape back to Hell seems hopeless. Ellie, Fi, Homer, Lee, and Kevin brave the worst in this electrifying continuation of their battle to stay alive and sane in a war zone that was once their home. The Night Is for Hunting is the sixth book in the Tomorrow When the War Began series.

The Other Side of Dawn is the long-awaited, riveting, final title in the Tomorrow series about a group of teenagers in war-torn Australia. Since their home was invaded by enemy soldiers and transformed into a war zone, Ellie and her friends have been fighting for their lives. They have learned survival skills out of necessity and taken care of each other through impossibly dark times. Now, with a roar like a train in a tunnel, the war has entered its final days. There's no more sitting around, no more waiting. There's only fast decisions, fast action, fast thinking-and no room to get it wrong. As the enemy forces close in on their hideout in Hell, Ellie, Fi, Homer, Lee, and Kevin, and their adopted group of orphaned children, find themselves facing the last chapter of their struggle for freedom. But it may just be the most dangerous yet. And not everyone will survive.