Marsden, John. The Tomorrow Series. Tomorrow, when the war began.

MARSDEN, John. THE TOMORROW SERIES. Tomorrow, when the war began. 277p. c1993. 0-439-82910-0. The dead of night. 264p. c1994. 0-439-82911-9. A killing frost. 267p. c1995. 0439-82912-7. Darkness be my friend. 259p. c1996. 0-439-85802-X. Burning for revenge. 254p. c1997. 0-439-85803. Scholastic. $8.99. each. JS *

First published in Australia, this suspenseful series was reviewed extensively in KLIATT when released in the US in hardcover editions and also as audiobooks. Now, the volumes are available as trade paperbacks, and this is the chance for all YA libraries to get copies.

The basic plot of the series is that a group of high school friends in Australia are away on a camping trip when their country is attacked and terrorized by an unnamed enemy. They become an insurgency group, doing whatever they can do to make things difficult for the occupying forces. Their parents and families have been placed in concentration camps, demoralized. The teenagers, making use of their intimate knowledge of their own hometown, stage raids and then retreat to the outback to regroup. The narrator is Ellie, who is filled with rage sometimes and remorse at other times. She is a realist, knowing that they have to do what they are doing if they expect to get their homeland back. All kinds of moral issues are raised. Also compelling are their feelings about each another. This represents the best of YA literature--exciting, honest, gripping. (Look for the final two books in the series to be released shortly--there are seven in all.) Claire Rosser, KLIATT

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.