Author | John Marsden |
---|---|
Cover artist | Helen Halliday |
Language | English |
Series | Tomorrow series |
Genre | Young adult Action Adventure novel |
Publisher | Pan Macmillan (Australia) |
Publication date | 1993 |
Publication place | Australia |
Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
Pages | 286 |
Followed by | The Dead of Night |
Tomorrow, When the War Began is the first book in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. It was published in 1993, and is a young adult invasion novel, detailing a high-intensity invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novel is told in first person perspective by the main character, a teenage girl named Ellie Linton, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy garrison in their fictional home town of Wirrawee.
Tomorrow, When the War Began was adapted into a feature film of the same name that was released on 2 September 2010 in Australia and New Zealand. It was written and directed by Stuart Beattie, and starred Caitlin Stasey in the role of Ellie Linton. [1]
Ellie Linton goes out camping in the bush for a week with her friends Homer Yannos, Lee Takkam, Kevin Holmes, Corrie Mackenzie, Robyn Mathers, and Fiona Maxwell. They find a way into a large, vegetated sinkhole in a remote area of bush the locals have dubbed "Hell", and camp there. During this time they see large numbers of planes flying through the night without lights, and though it is mentioned in conversation the following morning, they think little of it, dismissing it as military planes heading back from a demonstration.
When they return to their hometown of Wirrawee (a fictional town located somewhere in rural Victoria) they find that all the people are missing and their pets and livestock are dead or dying. Fearing the worst, they break into three groups to investigate Wirrawee's situation. They discover that Wirrawee was captured as a beachhead for an invasion of Australia by an unidentified force; local citizens are being held captive by the occupiers. Ellie's group is spotted, and pursued by the enemy and, in order to escape, use the fuel tank of a ride-on lawnmower to create an improvised explosive. However, after reuniting with Homer and Fi at a pre-arranged meeting point, they discover Robyn and Lee missing. Homer and Ellie search for them and they are met by Robyn. They discover that Lee has been shot in the leg and is hiding out in the main street of Wirrawee, the centre of the enemy's activity. Ellie and Homer confer with the others and Ellie decides that they should attempt to rescue Lee, using a front-end loader to move and protect him. After a protracted chase that sees several soldiers killed, Lee is successfully rescued and returned to the safety of Hell but not before they discover Chris Lang hiding out in his house after his parents were away on a business trip.
While hiding out in Hell, a romantic relationship forms between Ellie and Lee, Homer falls in love with Fi, while Kevin and Corrie continue a romantic relationship started a few months before the invasion. The teens decide to raid nearby farmhouses, searching for food and other supplies, and then retreat to Hell to establish a base camp for themselves. The group eventually moves toward waging a guerrilla war against the invaders.
Homer explains a plan around taking out the main bridge at Wirrawee which the invaders are using to supply their troops. They all agree and Ellie, Fi, Lee, and Homer steal a petrol tanker and use it to blow up the main bridge out of Wirrawee. However, the plan nearly falls apart when Ellie and Fi are discussing Homer and Lee. Luckily at the last minute they kick into gear and get the tanker to the bridge. Homer and Lee create a distraction with cattle. As the bridge party joins up with the others they discover Corrie has been shot.
The raid is a success as the bridge collapses but Corrie needs medical attention. Kevin decides that he will surrender and hope that the invaders give Corrie medical attention. They set off as the others look to the future.
Horn Book Magazine said that Tomorrow, When the War Began is "a riveting adventure through which Marsden explores the capacity for evil and the necessity of working together to oppose it." [2] Book Report magazine said that it was "an exciting story of self-discovery and survival." [3]
Between 1993 and 1998, over three million copies of the novel were sold. [4] During this timeframe, Tomorrow, When the War Began was translated into five languages, and was rated as the "4th best loved book" in an Australian survey. [4]
The novel is recommended by the New South Wales Board of Studies as a text to be studied in English classes during Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10). [5] In 1996, the American Library Association (ALA) named Tomorrow, When the War Began as one of the best young adult titles published in America in that year. [6] In 2000, the ALA listed the book as one of the 100 best books for teenage readers published between 1966 and 2000. [7]
In 2000, the Swedish government selected Tomorrow, When the War Began as the book most likely to inspire a love of reading in young people, and financed the printing and distribution of the novel to teenage school students in the country. [8] [9] [10]
In 2013, Tomorrow, When the War Began was voted Australia's favourite Australian book in a poll run by Get Reading!, an annual campaign run by the Australian Government to encourage Australians to read. [11] [12]
The book has been adapted twice.
In June 2009, Screen Australia announced that it would fund the development of the feature film to be produced based on the novel, to be written and directed by screenwriter Stuart Beattie. [13] [14] The film was released on 2 September 2010, but critical response was mixed and it failed to find an overseas audience. [15] [16]
A television adaptation of the Tomorrow series was produced. The series consist of six episodes and aired on ABC3. Filming took place from 14 September to 13 November 2015 in Melbourne, and premiered on 23 April 2016. The first series roughly followed the events of the first book. [17]
John Marsden is an Australian writer and alternative school principal. Marsden's books have been translated into eleven languages.
Cornelia Arnolda Johanna "Corrie" ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker and later a Christian writer and public speaker, who worked with her father, Casper ten Boom, her sister Betsie ten Boom and other family members to help many Jewish people escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II by hiding them in her home. They were caught, and she was arrested and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Her most famous book, The Hiding Place, is a biography that recounts the story of her family's efforts and how she found and shared hope in God while she was imprisoned at the concentration camp.
Rachel Hurd-Wood is an English actress. She is known for her performances in the fantasy adventure film Peter Pan (2003) and the thriller film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006).
Caitlin Jean Stasey is an Australian actress. She is known for her role as Rachel Kinski in Neighbours. Previously she played Francesca Thomas in The Sleepover Club, although her breakthrough film role came in Tomorrow, When the War Began, a 2010 film adaptation of the teen novel of the same name in which she played lead protagonist Ellie Linton. She also played Lady Kenna in the CW series Reign from 2013 to 2015 and had a recurring role in the ABC2 series Please Like Me from 2013 to 2016. In 2017, Stasey starred as Ada on the Fox television drama APB, which was cancelled after one season in May 2017. In 2020, she starred in the short film Laura Hasn't Slept and had a brief role as the same character in the feature film version Smile (2022).
The Tomorrow series is a series of seven young adult invasion novels written by Australian writer John Marsden, detailing the invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novels are related from the first-person perspective by Ellie Linton, a teenage girl, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy soldiers in the region around their fictional home town of Wirrawee. The name of the series is derived from the title of the first book, Tomorrow, When the War Began.
Invasion literature is a literary genre that was popular in the period between 1871 and the First World War (1914–1918). The invasion novel was first recognised as a literary genre in the UK, with the novella The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer (1871), an account of a German invasion of England, which, in the Western world, aroused the national imaginations and anxieties about hypothetical invasions by foreign powers; by 1914 the genre of invasion literature comprised more than 400 novels and stories.
Raymond Terrace, locally known as "The Terrace”, is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about 26 km (16 mi) by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers. The town was named after Lieutenant Raymond, who had explored the Hunter River in 1797 and described the terraced appearance of trees in the area. Governor Lachlan Macquarie camped in the area in 1818, using "Raymond's Terrace" as the name for the place where his party had camped.
Robert Patrick Amell IV is a Canadian-American actor and producer. He is best-known for his roles as Stephen Jameson on The CW series The Tomorrow People (2013–2014), Ronnie Raymond / Firestorm on The CW series The Flash, and Nathan Brown in the Prime Video series Upload (2020–2023). Other roles include Fred Jones in the films Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009) and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010), The Hunters as Paxton Flynn (2013), The DUFF as Wesley Rush (2015), The Babysitter as Max (2017), and the science fiction film Code 8 as Connor Reed (2019); the latter of which also starred his cousin, Stephen Amell. He also appeared on television shows such as Life with Derek (2006–2008), True Jackson, VP (2008–2011), Unnatural History (2010), and Revenge (2011–2012).
James Clancy Phelan (born 21 May 1979, known professionally as James Phelan, is an Australian writer of thrillers and young adult novels, including Fox Hunt, The Last 13 series for teens, and the Jed Walker and Lachlan Fox thrillers. He has also written short stories and the non-fiction book Literati.
Lincoln Clay Lewis is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles in the movie Tomorrow, When the War Began and in the television series Home and Away and Slide.
Casper ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jews and resisters escape the Nazis during the Holocaust of World War II. He is the father of Betsie and Corrie ten Boom, who also aided the Jews and were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where Betsie died. Casper died 9 March 1944 in The Hague, after nine days of imprisonment in the Scheveningen Prison. In 2008, he was recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
Tomorrow, When the War Began is a 2010 Australian action-adventure war drama film written and directed by Stuart Beattie and based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John Marsden. The film was produced by Andrew Mason and Michael Boughen. The story follows Ellie Linton, one of seven teenagers waging a guerrilla war against an invading foreign power in their fictional hometown of Wirrawee. The film stars Caitlin Stasey as Ellie Linton and features an ensemble cast including Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis and Phoebe Tonkin. Production began in September 2009.
The Dead of the Night, also published as The Dead of Night, is the second book in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. It is a young adult invasion literature novel, detailing the occupation of Australia by an unnamed foreign power. It continues the story started in Tomorrow, When the War Began. The novel is told in the first person perspective by the main character, a teenage girl named Ellie Linton, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy in their fictional home town of Wirrawee.
King Robert I of Scotland, also known as Robert the Bruce has been depicted in literature and popular culture many times. This list includes some examples.
The 19th Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, honoring the best in films from 2010, were presented on 13 March 2011 at North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray, New South Wales and hosted by Rod Quinn. The nominees were announced on 8 February 2011 with Animal Kingdom receiving ten nominations. Animal Kingdom won six awards, including Best Film and Best Director.
Ashleigh Cummings is an Australian actress. She became known for her role as Robyn Mathers in Tomorrow, When the War Began. The film, based on the book of the same name, earned Cummings a nomination for Best Young Actor at the 2010 Australian Film Institute Awards. Cummings is also known for her roles as Dorothy Williams in ABC1's Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, as Debbie Vickers in Puberty Blues, as Vic McQueen in NOS4A2, and as Abby Conroy in the spy action thriller series Citadel.
Christopher Pang is an Australian actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Colin Khoo in Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Lee Takkam in Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010).
Tomorrow When the War Began is an Australian drama television series based on the Tomorrow series by John Marsden, produced by Michael Boughen and Tony Winley and executive produced by Matthew Street and Kim Vecera. The series, which consisted of six one-hour episodes, premiered on ABC3 on 23 April 2016, and covered roughly the events of the first novel, Tomorrow, When the War Began. The series was cancelled after series 1 due to underwhelming ratings.
Molly Daniels is an Australian actress, writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles in You're Skitting Me, Tomorrow When the War Began, Ronny Chieng: International Student and Very Small Business. She was also a co-host on the ABC children's podcast Short and Curly.
The Third Day, the Frost is the third book in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. It is a young adult invasion literature novel, detailing the occupation of Australia by an unnamed foreign power. It continues the story started in Tomorrow, When the War Began and The Dead of the Night. Its title derives from a line in William Shakespeare’s play, King Henry VIII "The third day comes a frost, a killing frost..." which also serves as the book's epigraph.