Tomorrow When The War Began - John Marsden

Well I thought I'd go down to a straight-out Australian classic. Although it is world renowned, not many people out of the country know about. It's such a classic that dozens of schools study it as a classic. I thought I'd review this one because it's one of the only Aussie books that I've read and completely loved.

The book starts on our main character, Ellie Linton, who is telling the story from an afterwards perspective, and it is said that she is writing it down. Her and her seven friends - Corrie, Kevin, Homer, Robin, Lee and Fi - wanted to do something really exciting before they go back to their last year of school, and so, they go camping. Upon coming out of the bush, five days later, their houses are abandoned, electricity is down, and phone lines are off. They know something is wrong, so they go in guerilla style.

That's as much as I can say about the story without giving away too much, so let's get into the review. I really enjoyed how John Marsden set the story and the pace. He never strays from the perspective that he set forth for the team, not once is it written by someone else, and this tells us how Ellie feels about everything that is going on and how she struggles as a person.

The book was not written to be a Hollywood thriller, he used language that every Australian teen does (with less swearing) and the theme is proper. Everyone I know that has read the book can completely relate to it and the ideas it puts forth. I am set to study this book for Semester 2 of Year 9 (Freshman Year) and I have a feeling I will have a better idea of what it's about than the first time readers.

There are several books in the series, and I would recommend reading all of them, as they are all great and stay at the same theme, but my curiosity was gone as soon as I reached the Ellie Chronicles, its sequel series. I would not recommend buying that series.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 star rating - the book is spectacular, and although I didn't like small itty bitty things, it is the best Australian book, and probably my favourite series of its genre. Au revoir!