John Marsden: While I Live

John Marsden is undoubtedly one of Australia's most prolific and most popular authors for children and young adults. He has written more than 30 books, both fiction and non-fiction, and each one has earned accolades from teachers, librarians and parents, as well as from his young readers.

Tomorrow, When the War Began, which was first published in 1993, is the book he is probably best known for in New Zealand. The first in an award-winning series of seven books to feature plucky teenage heroine Ellie Linton, it is the story of what happens when Australia is invaded by a foreign power. Not only did this book smash sales records in Australia, but it also captured the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere.

Many intermediate and secondary schools in New Zealand possess class sets of the Tomorrow series and titles have featured in all three of the Whitcoulls top 50 kids' books lists, as voted for by young New Zealanders over the past six years.

While I Live: The Ellie Chronicles is the first book in a new series narrated by Ellie Linton, and it picks up the story of Ellie and her friends after peace has been restored to a much-reduced Australia. The foreign power has signed a peace treaty with Australia but there is now a border running through the centre of the continent and Australians have had to cede vast tracts of land to their enemy.

The town of Wirrawee, which lies close to the border, is gradually emerging from the horrors of war, and Ellie is delighted to be once again living with her parents on the family farm, although much of their former land has been redistributed.

However, Ellie's contentment is short-lived. In the first chapter her parents are brutally killed by a band of marauding enemy soldiers from across the border.

Once again Ellie must put aside her dreams of a "normal" adolescence and take on adult responsibilities. Furthermore, Gavin, the profoundly deaf boy whom her parents informally adopted, is now totally dependent on her.

Within weeks of her parents' death, Ellie finds herself grappling with a bombastic lawyer who appoints himself as her guardian and then tries to sell the farm from under her. Ellie also finds herself on a top secret mission across the border to rescue a friend captured by enemy troops. Lee, her boyfriend from the Tomorrow series, also re-appears in her life, but he too has had to take on adult responsibilities for his younger siblings after the death of his parents.

While I Live is a compelling, action-packed account of ordinary teenagers living in extraordinary times who must fight for their own survival. Ellie and her friends are very much the equals of any adults in this book.

However while they face very adult challenges, they are also having to deal with the issues that pre-occupy all teenagers, particularly those related to personal relationships. This book is sure to delight teenagers who have already read the Tomorrow series, but it can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel.

Marsden's accessible writing style means that this book could easily be read by intermediate school readers. However, it deals with some hard-hitting dilemmas that may be better appreciated and understood by readers aged 14 and over.

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Price: $32.99

Age: 12-plus