Audio - MP3-CD John Marsden's Tomorrow Series Set (NEW)

MP3-CD - These are easily transferred to IPOD or MP3 player or can be played on compatable players

Tomorrow When The War Began

Book 1 of the Tomorrow. While Ellie and her friends are away in the bush, the world changes. Suddenly they are in the toughest situations humans can confront, facing life and death decisions. They are thrown into a world where they find courage, initiative, spirit and wisdom ... or they die. The first of an enormously popular series that has been translated and published all over the world.

"The reader is unwittingly flung headlong and gasping into the plot ... the images created are so vivid that they stay with you long after the book is reluctantly closed on the final page." - Melbourne Herald-Sun.

The author combines a story of a WWIII invasion with a romance among several teenage couples. Narrator Suzi Dougherty's voice has the raspy scratch of a heavy smoker and the accent of the Australian bush. She assumes the part of Ellie, a precocious student knocking on the door of adulthood who discovers that her town has been taken over by an unknown military. At first, Dougherty's fast pace and Australian vocabulary of wombats, wallabies, and roustabouts may leave American listeners spinning, but with a little time she comes into focus. Her delivery of the dialogue of Ellie's mates differentiates them more by their unique attitudes than by distinctive voices. Her narrative style and the author's adroit descriptions create more entertainment than the thin plot. J.A.H.
AudioFile Magazine [Apr 08]

John Marsden’s Australian setting for a seven book series becomes a vivid backdrop for the first title available in audio format (Houghton, 1995). Read by Suzi Dougherty with teen-friendly voicing, the story moves from tense and gripping to philosophical by turns. Ellie, the narrator and resident of the rural ranching district surrounding Wirrawee, tells the story. She and her seven friends return from a camping trip to find their families captive, their homes destroyed or deserted, and their country invaded. Warned in a faxed message to “go bush,” they set up a base camp in Hell, a nearly inaccessible valley they have penetrated. Slightly reminiscent of Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien (Macmillan, 1987), which is mentioned in the story, Ellie is presented here as an inventive and admirable heroine. Conducting covert raids for information, supplies, and rescue missions, the friends ultimately progress to an actual guerilla attack on a key bridge along the enemy supply line. All the while, the friends muse on larger questions—the good and evil in people, their own loyalties, and potential romance as they draw together in the face of their experiences. The discussion of sexual feelings, while not at all graphic, makes this more suitable for high school age listeners. Dougherty’s narraiton is light-hearted, pensive, or fast-paced depending onthe mood. Her Australian accent offers a convincing touch that adds to the flavor of the story. Everything does not come out happily ever after in this compelling and thought-provoking novel, and listeners will be eager to read or listen to the other titles in the saga.
Jane P. Fenn, Corning-Painted Post West High School, NY [Aug 04

Book 2 in the Tomorrow, when the war began series. "There was a crashing sound from the bushes. I spun round, wondering if this was my death, the last movement I would even make, the last sight I would see ..." It's tough surviving in Hell. But sometimes Hell can be a haven. Their country has been invaded. Their homes have been occupied by strangers - or destroyed. Their families are facing death at the hands of a merciless enemy. But one group of teenagers - fugitives in a remote valley - will never give in. Not without a fight. But sometimes courage demands too high a price ...

Book 3 of the Tomorrow, when the war began series. What's the biggest danger you can think of? THIS IS BIGGER. What's the toughest challenge you can imagine? THIS IS TOUGHER. What's the greatest fear you have? YOURE ABOUT TO FIND OUT. "How long do you think they'll keep looking for us?" I asked Lee, as we lay there. "Until they find us," he answered grimly. They came in summer. They fell upon the land swiftly and suddenly. Through autumn they spread, like locusts, like mice, like a plague. Now its winter. They're still here. But so too are Ellie and Homer and their friends.

Book 4 of the Tomorrow, when the war began series. That's what war does for you. Either kills you in one hit or destroys you slowly.One way or the other, it gets you. Unless you fight back. "Each book has its place in the tone and tenor of the series, but Darkness, Be My Friend is one of the best ... Like ancient myths, the stories confront the purpose of life, death, betrayal, killing, love, hate, revenge, selflessness, sacrifice and, in this most recent book, faith." The Age

Book 5 in the Tomorrow, when the war began series. When you're on your knees there's only one thing to do ... stand up again! Ellie and her friends have stared defeat in the face. They have felt its hot breath.They have been bashed and battered by it, brought to breaking point. Now it's time to hit back. Now it's time to come out fighting. Now they really are Burning For Revenge!

"... gripping, intelligent and thoroughly entertaining." - Sun-Herald.

"Packed with action." - The Age.

"This is John Marsden's best writing of the series to date." - The Catholic Weekly

Book 6 of the Tomorrow, when the war began series. 'I lay there, heart still pounding from the shock of seeing the man surrender and then get killed, the shock of seeing so much blood, more blood than I'd even seen from one person before ...' They are the enemy. And they're still out there. They're in your street, your home, the safest places you know. You feel their hot breath ... even in the depths of hell. Ellie and Homer are out there too. Lee and Fi and Kevin. They've forgotten what it means to be safe. Sometimes they feel like there's nowhere left for them. They may be right.

This is the sixth in a series about a war of occupation in Australia. The series is tightly woven, and the listener will want to follow from the beginning as a band of teenagers turns into guerilla fighters. Suzi Dougherty is masterful at portraying the lead characters. She also manages the peripheral players with sufficient distinction. Both the story and its delivery are so powerful that listeners can almost feel the rumble of the jets and smell the bush fire. American teens will enjoy the sparkling rendering of the Aussie accents and the distinctive English spoken by their counterparts. Adults, especially those close to high school kids, will also find this series compelling. M.C.
AudioFile Magazine [Oct 06]

The seventh and final volume in the award-winning Tomorrow series. After six incredible books, John Marsden has written the final volume and a last adventure for Ellie, Lee, Homer, Fi and Kevin. It may be the end of the series, but does it mean the end to Australia as we know it or the end of the war? Or both ...