Book Review
'Tomorrow When the War Began' tells readers about the lives of adolescent teenagers. John Marsden's novel is very relevant to adolescents. The setting of the book is a place where rural Australians can relate to. The characters in the novel are rural Australian teenagers therefore adolescent readers can also relate to them, because of this, readers can enjoy the book more. John Marsden also puts many relevant themes in the novel like love, family and friendship.
The Australian setting of the novel is a place that rural Australian teenagers can relate to. John Marsden has set most of his novel in a place they call 'Hell'. The setting he has created encourages readers to imagine a very overgrown place with wild bushes with fallen down trees... "It's a long grunt up a track that become a real mess over the years; holes so big I thought we would loos the Landover in them, mud slides, creek crossings I don't know how many fallen down trees" (pg 17). This clearly states that no one has been through there for a long time. Isolation is something Australian teenagers are used to. The campsite however, is a beautiful place with a spring with fresh water and clear of vegetation and other bush like things. However some of Marsden's novel is also set in a small country town called Wirawee. Wirawee is a small country town with a small population. The townspeople are friendly and free of crime. The streets a clean and free of pollution. Marsden also tells a small part of the story on the outer part of town were the rural kids live. Their houses are small and tidy. They live on farms and big properties with farm animals and machinery. John Marsden's setting of rural Australia makes the book more interesting for Australian adolescents as they can understand the book more easily.
The characters in the book are rural Australian teenagers, therefore, adolescent readers can relate to them. In Johns Marsden's book, 'Tomorrow When the War Began' the characters are rural Australian teenagers. The readers know this because of the way the characters act and by the things they do on their farms... "we'd camped out quite often doing it since we were kids taking the motorbikes all loaded with gear and then camping out under the stars (pg 3). Not all of John Marsden's characters are rural. The character Fi or Fiona is a 'townie'. She is very girly and doesn't know much about being a 'rural kid'. Readers know this by the way she acts and the things she takes to 'Hell' on the camping trip... 'Fi started to look embarrassed "pyjamas, a dressing gown and i am not telling you the rest" ' (pg21). Marsden includes her in to show that not all kids living in small country towns are rural. John Marsden also puts kids in from different countries. Homer is from Greece... 'here is a Greek question: name three olives' (pg123). He includes homer in to show readers that Australia is a multicultural society. John Marsden's characters are characters that Australian teenagers can identify and relate.
John Marsden includes many themes in his novel, for example love friendship and family. These themes relate directly to adolescents. John Marsden puts these themes in his novel to make it more interesting and relate to teenagers more effectively. One of the themes is love. He explores love in the story to make the characters seem older. Teenagers like the ones in the book are interested in the opposite gender this is why he adds love in the book. Another theme is friendship. Marsden includes friendship to make the novel better to read and to make it more interesting. He also includes this because adolescents have lots of friends therefore, the characters and the readers are more alike. Marsden also puts in family as a theme. He includes this to make the characters in the novel seem more realistic. Also parents are a big part in a teenager's life. John Marsden has included these themes in his book and has made a big difference overall on the Tomorrow series.
John Marsden's book (Tomorrow When the War Began) explores the lives of adolescent teenagers in Australia. His novel is very relevant to Australian teenagers. Marsden includes a Australian setting, teenaged characters and familiar themes in his story. Overall, John Marsden's book is a great book for Australian adolescents.
