Best Selling Books by John Marsden

Winner of Australia''s Book of the Year Award. Set in Australia and written in the form of a diary, this is the tragic story of the effects of divorce and her parents'' anger on a young woman''s life. "Remarkable...few readers will come away from the portrait of Marina''s ordeal unshaken. "--Publishers Weekly

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.

The author of A Killing Frost continues his bestselling series. “Marsden’s style is as surefooted as his independent band of teens.”—School Library Journal 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. “Ellie is a solid narrator whose no-nonsense approach to love, war, and friendship makes her an unusual and impressive female protagonist. A personalized war novel that is apocalyptic yet open-ended enough for another sequel, Darkness benefits from not being limited to fitting into any one genre, but satisfactorily including aspects of several.”—Booklist “Contains as much riveting suspense and cliffhanger chapter endings as the first three.”—The Horn Book

The Australian YA adventure trilogy “comes to a thrill-a-minute conclusion as the teen heroes continue their guerrilla tactics against totalitarian foes" (Publishers Weekly). It''s been nearly six months since Australia was invaded and Ellie’s life changed forever. Once normal teenagers, she and six of her friends are now trapped in a war zone where every moment is a struggle for survival. Living in the woods to evade capture, Ellie has become an expert in fear, hunger, sickness—and improvised explosives. Ellie and her friends are learning to fight back, attacking the army that stole their land, abducted their families, and destroyed their future. But to wage a war, they must strike their enemy where it hurts—and risk everything they hold dear. Concluding the story that began in Tomorrow, When the War Began and The Dead of Night, John Marsden “offers an unflinching look at living in war-torn Australia” (Kirkus Reviews).

The stage adaptation of John Marsden''s award-winning, bestselling novel. ''I don''t know what I''m doing here. Well, I do really I have been sent here to learn to talk again. Sent here because my mother can''t stand my silent presence at home. Sent here because of my face ...'' She watches; she dreams. She sees more than they realise. She has worries and fears, hopes and desires. She is troubled; she is angry. Above all, she is lonely. She may be someone you know. She may be you. In So Much to Tell You she tells her story. With humour and insight, with sensitivity and strength, with painful honesty. You will never forget her. ''impressive emotional power, style, freshness and originality'' CHILDREN''S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

James, a strange, silent boy, makes the acquaintance of old Mr. Woodford, a physicist who constructs a mysterious black box, but when the box comes into the boy''s possession, it draws him into a magical and dangerous world, in and out of time.

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.

The relationship between two teenage girls who become acquainted through letters intensifies as their correspondence reveals some of the terrible problems of their lives.

Even though the war is over and she is back on her family''s farm, Ellie Linton is haunted by the memories and now must discover how to find the enemy within herself in order to move on with her life.

Deluxe paperback reissue of the third of the Tomorrow series, a seven-novel sequence for young adult readers telling of the experiences and exploits of a group of teenagers after the invasion of Australia. The series has been reissued to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the publication of first book in the series, ''Tomorrow, When the War Began''. In this volume, first published 1995, narrator Ellie and her friends undertake dangerous guerilla actions against the invaders'' installations. Next in the series is ''Darkness, Be My Friend''. A former teacher, Marsden is a bestselling author for young adults and teacher of writing. His other books include ''The Great Gatenby'' and ''Winter''.

From John Marsden, the highly-acclaimed and bestselling author of "Secret Men''s Business," comes a practical guide to help single mothers enjoy and celebrate raising their sons. Drawing on his years as teacher and mentor to young people, John Marsden follows the child from baby to young man and identifies 101 important steps in fostering a boy’s developing masculinity. Written with humour and compassion, John understands what it means to be a boy and how to help a boy grow into a well-adjusted man.

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.

John Marsden is not just one of Australia''s most successful writers of all time; he''s also one of our best teachers of writing. "Highly recommended" Sun Herald "The most exciting, interesting and useful book on the teaching of writing" Australian English Teacher The ultimate "get off your bum and do it" book, Everything I Know About Writing will motivate anyone to write. It''s a lively, funny guide to writing, as readable as a novel, but packed front to back with ideas and insights. This new edition has one other great feature: 600 extraordinary topics, guaranteed to have you or your students writing before you know it. Everything I Know About Writing is the most painless way into writing - ever.

While trying to care for a group of abandoned young children, five Australian teenagers continue their struggle for survival and their resistance against the enemy invading their homeland.

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.

"Australia''s king of young adult fiction" The Australian She has parents, a brother, friends and a dog. Sometimes the dog seems like the only one she can trust. Her life is about to fall apart. The dog is Checkers. The book is unforgettable. Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and John Flanagan will love John Marsden.

After the war ends, Ellie must care for her troublesome ward, Gavin, while fending off raiding parties and wishing to return to normal life.

Live what you believe in... die fighting for it.The third day comes a frost... a killing frost.The enemy spreads across the land, cold and relentless. They invade. They destroy. They kill.Only the heroism of Ellie and her friends can stop them.When hot courage meets icy death, who will win through?The Third Day, The Frost is the third volume in the award-winning Tomorrow series.

The Dane as never seen before -- in a daring, dazzling, sexy prose retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy by best-selling author John Marsden. (Age 14 and up) Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, but Hamlet can’t be sure what’s causing the stench. His rage at his mother’s infidelities -- together with his greed for the sensual Ophelia and his dead father’s call to revenge a "murder most foul" -- have his mind in chaos, and he wants to scatter his traitorous uncle’s insides across the fields. But was it really his father’s ghost that night on the ramparts, or a hell-fiend sent to trick him? "Action is hot," he tells Ophelia, who lives shut up in a tower with her longings and lust. "Action is courage, and reflection is cowardly. Picking up the knife has the colors of truth. As soon as I hesitate. . . ." In this dark, erotically charged, beautifully crafted novel, John Marsden brings one of Shakespeare’s most riveting characters to full-blooded life in a narrative of intense psychological complexity.

"Australia''s king of young adult fiction" The Australian Lisa Morris could be the girl next door. She could be your cousin. She could be sitting behind you in class. She could be you. But Lisa, cool and beautiful Lisa, remote and private Lisa, has more going on in her life than anyone imagines. Only her journal knows the truth about her life. Only her journal - and you. Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and John Flanagan will love John Marsden.

From the mutli-award winning and bestselling author of the Tomorrow series. "Australia''s king of young adult fiction" The Australian You move into the most boring street in the most boring town in Australia. Tarrawagga is a hole. Its only ambition is to be a crater, and it has every chance of getting there. The last thing you expect is to have action all around you, dangerous strangers in the backyard and bullets flying past your ears. At your new school, everyone thinks you''re the biggest loser in Grade 6. Little do they know. When they realise the truth, teachers and students alike are in for the shock of their lives. Funny, gripping and full of surprises, The Year My Life Broke could be the most real book you read this year. Warning: This book is not a fantasy. It contains no superheroes, wizards, dragons, time travel, aliens or magic. Notable Book for the Children''s Book Council of Australia Awards''s Young Readers 2014

''The rabbits came many grandparents ago. They built houses, made roads, had children. They cut down trees. A whole continent of rabbits...'' THE RABBITS offers a rich and immensely valuable perspective on the effect of man on his environment. Visually loaded and told with a passion for truth and understanding, THE RABBITS aims to promote cultural awareness and a sense of caring for the natural world.

A book for all people. And all who read it will be changed by the experience. ". . . an extraordinary book. . . I would commend it to everybody." Terry Lane, ABC Radio The Journey is a story of young people in a world so different and yet so like our own. It is a world in which young people must undertake a journey of discovery on their way to becoming adults. Fourteen-year-old Argus sets out on his journey away from his valley and his parents, never knowing what adventure will befall him next. He learns how to survive in the wild until he meets with a travelling fair, which he joins, becoming a friend of Mayon the storyteller, of Lavolta and Parara - twins who share the same body - and many others. But it is with the sweet and wise Temora that he learns some of the deepest secrets. All journeys must find an end. Argus leaves the fair and travels on alone, until his last and greatest adventure beckons him home. There he tells, for the approval of his elders, the seven stories which are now his story. But all is not done. There is one more chapter to be lived out in the story of Argus. Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and John Flanagan will love John Marsden.

The next book in The Ellie Chronicles, following While I Live, the post-war series featuring the immensely popular Ellie Linton, heroine and narrator of the Tomorrow series. "I held my line. I knew from the war, if not from shooting rabbits, that we were safe enough for the first moments. It is too impossible to hit a target like us from a helicopter that''s rocking and rolling and trying to find its target. But maybe this guy had new equipment or maybe he was a brilliant shot or maybe he was just plain lucky. Bullet holes tore through the ute like a huge metal-punch was suddenly and roughly slamming a simultaneous line of them from our rear to our front." Ellie has struggled to put the war behind her and lead a normal life. Although what''s normal about your parents having been murdered; trying to run a farm and go to school; and bringing up a young boy who''s hiding terrible secrets about his past? Packed full of action and high-drama, John Marsden delivers another fast-paced adventure that will thrill old fans and new readers alike.

Hello gorgeous, Mum said when I woke up. What would you like for breakfast? You can have anything you want. I had Choco Pops, cherries, coke, crumpets and raspberry ice cream. So begins a day in the life of one boy. But it''s a day with a difference a perfect day. Not only does his dog Muffin come to school, he easily wins the spelling quiz and gets a standing ovation from his classmates. It is a day like no other when he can do exactly what he wants! Or is it?

"Australia''s king of young adult fiction" The Australian Winter is sixteen. It''s time to come home. For twelve years Winter has been haunted. Her past, her memories, her feelings, will not leave her alone. And now, at sixteen, the time has come for her to act. Every journey begins with a single step. If Winter is going to step into the future, she must first step into the past. Winter is an intense, emotionally rich book that you will want to read not just once, but many times. Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and John Flanagan will love John Marsden.

Is there a geographical centre of Islam? What was Australia''s political crisis in 1975? Are swinging seats found in a playground or in Australian politics? And why is gravity so heavy, man? John Marsden, Australia''s bestselling writer for teenagers, turns his attention to the inside of the human brain and answers these and other vital questions. From Germaine Greer''s politics and the belief systems of Buddhists and Christians to what Harry said when he met Sally and other movie moments that have become myths, The Head Book is an entertaining collection of bite-sized pieces of vital information, wit and wisdom, and interesting and useful facts.

Extensively revised and updated, this edition provides the broad base of knowledge required by all working in the gold extraction and gold processing industries. It bridges the gap between research and industry by emphasizing practical applications of chemical principles and techniques.

"Australia''s king of young adult fiction" The Australian Dreamed about you again. Like I do most nights. Tony writes letters. To Miffy. And breaks your heart. Your life''s a solo run, and even the crowd that''s cheering you want you to fall over. They love when you win, but they love it even better when you lose. Telling powerful stories has become the hallmark of John Marsden''s writing. But even John Marsden has never written a book as powerful and gutsy as Dear Miffy. [Contents may offend some readers]

Mum is a rehab counselor for people with alcohol problems. Grandma Raynor lives next door. Dad is a driver for Elgas. Then there''s me, fifteen, into a lot of different stuff. Music, surfing, animals, tennis, swimming, computer games. And my sister, Claire, and brother Toby. We re a typical Australian family. Barbeques, footy, gardening, school, Holden Commodores Then one day things change. April 26, Dad burns the toast, yells at Toby, thanks me for cleaning the cab of the truck, kisses Mum and Toby, then he''s gone April 27, the war starts May 21, the city''s in ruins, blackouts nearly all the time, food is hard to find September 13, Dad''s heard news of a boat. We might get out of here yet September 28, it is just after dawn. A boat from their Navy has found us. We waved and cried and cheered. But then, slowly, we realised they were shouting at us, telling us to go away September 30, we are in a huge prison, with razor wire all around us. The government says there''s no room for us. The Prime Minister says that if they let us out into the community it ll just encourage other illegal immigrants. The Deputy Prime Minister says we re not genuine refugees. The Minister for Immigration says we should have gone through the proper procedures and applied to come here the prescribed way. Apparently there was a queue or a waiting list or something, and we were meant to find an Immigration Office and put our names down to be considered. I guess they re right. I feel terrible about the trouble we''ve caused them.

"Australia''s king of young adult fiction" The Australian "A very funny, very Australian book" West Australian Maybe deep down every kid knows his parents want him to be the Pride of the School, the Captain of Cricket and Tennis and Rowing and Darts and Knitting and anything else that''s going down. They don''t want to know about the fact that you''ve had more detentions than any other new student in the history of the school, that you''re going out with the girl who doesn''t wear a bra to PE, that the Head Swimming Coach is some kind of Nazi whose last job was training the shark in Jaws. Erle Gatenby has been sent to boarding school to straighten out, but there''s about as much chance of that happening as there is of his giving up smoking. . . or drinking. . . or falling through the Art Room roof. Erle''s a full tank of petrol. . . and wild, sexy Melanie Tozer is about to light the match. Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and John Flanagan will love John Marsden.

''Compulsively readable'' New York Times Somewhere out there Ellie and her friends are hiding. Their country has been invaded. Everyone they know has been captured. Their world has changed overnight. They''ve got no weapons - except courage. They''ve got no help - except themselves. They''ve got nothing - except friendship. How strong could you be, if the world was full of people trying to kill you? Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and Michael Grant - prepare to be hooked by the Tomorrow series.

Examines in detail the history of the Celtic kingdom of the Scots. Offers the reader insights into the world and times of Celtic Scotland that other books rarely achieve.

The ''other royal family'' of the sub-title is first noticed in the seventh century as the Cenel Loairn, one of the principal dynastic kindreds of Dalriada, the embryonic kingdom of the Scots in Argyll. By the end of that century they had displaced the Cenel nGabrain, a kindred descended from the traditional founding dynast Fergus Mor, from over-kingship of Dalriada and clung on to power until the Pictish onslaught of the 730s. While the Cenel Gabrain extended eastward into Pictland as the MacAlpin kings of Alba, the Cenel Loairn moved up the Great Glen to reappear as hereditary mormaers of Moray, effectively kings in the north who achieved their pinnacle of ascendancy when Macbeth seized the high-kingship of Scots in 1040. His death, and that of his kinsman and successor Lulach, at the hands of Malcolm Canmore signalled the resurgence of the Cenel nGabrain and launched the Cenel Loairn into terminal decline. Yet the house of Lulach still pursued its claim on kingship through a sequence of rebellions against Canmore kings which continued into the second quarter of the thirteenth century. "Kings, Mormaers, Rebels" traces the story of the Cenel Loairn and its descendent kindreds through more than six hundred years to throw an unfamiliar side-light on the emergence of the medieval kingdom of the Scots.

John Marsden follows the course of the sea-road of the early Celtic saints from Ireland to the western coast and isles of Scotland. He explores the spiritual tradition of the ''white martyrdom of exile for Christ'' as it was lived out by these voyager-visionaries against the land and seascapes of the Hebrides. From Columba onwards to Ciaran, Cormac, Brendan and Ronan, those who spread Irish Christianity into Scotland left traces throughout the landscape and in the placenames which survive to this day.The book gives not only a colourful account of the history of those times, but serves also as a guide to the island traveller on a path of exploration of this rich and ancient tradition.

Galloglas were mercenary warriors from the Hebrides and West Highlands who settled in Ireland in the later 13th century and achieved an extraordinary prominence on Irish battlefields throughout the three hundred years following. Fighting as heavy infantry - highly-disciplined, mail-armoured and wielding their characteristic weapon of the long-staved war-axe - they were the decisive military component in the Gaelic Irish resurgence of the 14th century and represented the cutting-edge of resistance to Tudor reconquest two hundred years later. Found first in the service of native Irish lords in Ulster and Connacht, they were later brought into Munster and Leinster by the gaelicised Anglo-Irish earls. By the 15th century they were established as Ireland''s first professional warrior class and, like other professional classes in the Gaelic world, they were organized on the basis of kin-group. The names of hereditary commanders of galloglas entered in the Irish annals identify these mercenary warrior kindreds as the MacCabes, MacDonnels, MacDowells, MacRorys, MacSheehys and MacSweeneys, all of them families descended from the Gaelic-Norse aristocracy of Argyll and the Isles - and yet their story has been called "a forgotten chapter of West Highland history". This account of the Galloglas is written from a decidedly Scottish perspective, tracing the origins of six kindreds and investigating the circumstances which brought about their relocation to Ireland. It goes on to examine the galloglas as warriors, pointing to their distinctly Norse character and proposing their battle-fury as "the last unmistakable echo of the Scandinavian impact on the Celtic west".

Three short stories that focus on loss and despair ; the final story, The rabbits, was written by John Marsden.