John Marsden Books In Order - Books In Order (2025)

1. Tomorrow, When the War Began (1993)
2. The Dead of Night (1994)
3. A Killing Frost (1995)
4. Darkness, Be My Friend (1996)
5. Burning For Revenge (1997)
6. The Night is for Hunting (1998)
7. The Other Side of Dawn (1999)

1. While I Live (2003)
2. Incurable (2005)
3. Circle Of Flight (2006)

1. So Much to Tell You (1987)
2. Take My Word For It (1992)

1. The Great Gatenby (1989)
2. Letters from the Inside (1991)
3. Cool School (1995)
4. Checkers (1996)
5. Staying Alive in Year Five (1996)
6. Looking For Trouble (1996)
7. Dear Miffy (1997)
8. Secret Men’s Business (1998)
9. Prayer for the Twenty-First Century (1998)
10. Winter (2000)
11. The Head Book (2001)
12. A Day in the Life of Me (2002)
13. Hamlet (2008)
14. Hamlet & Ophelia (2009)
15. The Year My Life Broke (2013)
16. Millie (2020)
17. A Roomful of Magic (2020)

1. The Rabbits (1998)
2. Norton’s Hut (1998)
3. Home and Away (2008)

1. Marsden on Marsden (2000)

• Tomorrow, When the War Began(1993)

• The Dead of Night(1994)

• A Killing Frost(1995)

• Darkness, Be My Friend(1996)

• Burning For Revenge(1997)

• The Night is for Hunting(1998)

• The Other Side of Dawn(1999)

• While I Live(2003)

• Incurable(2005)

• Circle Of Flight(2006)

• So Much to Tell You(1987)

• Take My Word For It(1992)

• The Great Gatenby(1989)

• Letters from the Inside(1991)

• Cool School(1995)

• Checkers(1996)

• Staying Alive in Year Five(1996)

• Looking For Trouble(1996)

• Dear Miffy(1997)

• Secret Men’s Business(1998)

• Prayer for the Twenty-First Century(1998)

• Winter(2000)

• The Head Book(2001)

• A Day in the Life of Me(2002)

• Hamlet(2008)

• The Year My Life Broke(2013)

• Millie(2020)

• A Roomful of Magic(2020)

• The Rabbits(1998)

• Norton’s Hut(1998)

• Home and Away(2008)

• Marsden on Marsden(2000)

Tomorrow, When the War Began

When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight high school teenagers band together to fight. Seventeen year old Ellie Linton wants one final adventure with her friends before the school holidays are over. Packed in Ellie’s parents’ land rover they drive to the famously isolated rock pool Eden dubbed ‘Hell’ by the locals. Returning to their home town of Wirrawee, the seven teenagers realize that something is seriously wrong. Power to the houses has been cut, pets and livestock have been left dead or dying, and most alarmingly of all, everyone’s family has vanished. When the hostile armed forces discover that the teenagers are lying low in the vicinity, Ellie and her friends must band together to escape, outwit and strike back against the mysterious enemy that has seized control of their town and imprisoned their friends and loved ones…

The Dead of Night

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.

A Killing Frost

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? YOU’RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT. First there was Tomorrow, When the War Began, then came The Dead of Night. Now it’s The Third Day, The Frost. And things can only get worse. ‘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 it’s winter. They’re still here. But so too are Ellie and Homer and their friends. Half a dozen teenagers with all the odds against them. All they have going for them is their friendship, and their own inner spirit. How far can courage go? What do you save first when you’re fighting for everything yourself, your friends, your family, your country? In The Third Day, The Frost the answers are as big as the questions. John Marsden is one of the new breed of Australia’s writers for young people: lively, fresh, provocative. Many young readers actually turn off the TV and leave their computer games to go and read John’s books. And, for a number of them, they are the first books they voluntarily read.

Darkness, Be My Friend

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 most recent 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. ‘Fans of this powerful series will not look forward to an early armistice.’ The Bulletin

Burning For Revenge

‘I wonder what would have happened if I’d met you before Nesta,’ said Luke as he took my hand and looked deeply into my eyes. A bolt of electricity shot through me and I snatched my hand back as if it had been burnt. This can’t be happening, I thought. When Luke, the boy that Nesta has been dating, declares passionate love for T.J., she doesn’t know what has hit her. She does her best to avoid him, but when the local schools are asked to work together on a project, Luke is chosen as the overall coordinator and T.J. has no choice but to report back to him on a regular basis. Misunderstandings and miscommunications threaten the girls’ friendship and split them into two camps: Lucy and Nesta, Izzie and T.J. Will their friendship survive? And what will T.J.’s steady boyfriend, Steve, make of it all?

The Other Side of Dawn

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.

While I Live

Internationally bestselling author John Marsden takes us beyond The Tomorrow Series…
but the war isn’t over. For Ellie Linton, being back on the farm with her parents is what makes the terrible things that happened during the war the things she, Homer, Lee, Fi, and the others had to do all worthwhile. It’s where she belongs. But the war won’t let her go. A devastating tragedy has shattered any hope she ever had to reclaim her life, or herself. It’s a new kind of fight. And the enemy isn’t always from the other side of the border. Another spectacular novel of war and its consequences by bestselling author John Marsden.

Incurable

The battles continue in the latest book from internationally bestselling author John MarsdenEllie Linton is a survivor. Because she’s honest. Because she’s loyal. Because she’s incurably brave. And because sometimes she’s lucky. But what happens to survivors when their luck runs out?Packed full of action and human drama, John Marsden’s Incurable delivers another fast paced adventure that will thrill old fans and new readers like.

Circle Of Flight

The wait is over for the conclusion to John Marsden’s thrilling Ellie Chronicles!Ellie is a fighter. She has faith in her own abilities. But she’s not Superwoman. Not all battles can be won with a gun and bullets, and never has she faced enemies so ruthless or so brutal. Whether she has friends at her side or stands alone, for Ellie, enemies are everywhere. Life as she knows it is about to change. John Marsden’s explosive finale to The Ellie Chronicles pushes Ellie to the edge in a tense, gripping, and completely surprising conclusion.

So Much to Tell You

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.

Letters from the Inside

Mandy and Tracey have never met, but they know everything about each other. Connected through a pen pal ad, they exchange frequent letters, writing about boyfriends and siblings, music and friends. They trade stories about school and home. They confide their worries and hopes. It almost makes it easier, and more special, that they ve never met they can say whatever they want in the safety of their private world of letters. But that private world may not be as safe as it seems. Can Mandy trust Tracey to be who she says she is? What secrets hide between the lines of their letters?

Checkers

Tonight before I started writing this, it was me confronting Jack. It was so real I could smell it. Suddenly, according to my imagination, I’d be on my feet, screaming, ‘Why didn’t you leave us alone? Why did you have to drag us in? You’re scum, filth. I hate you. Go away. You deserve everything, everything, you understand? Everything that you get. It’s not my fault. IT’S NOT MY FAULT.’She had everything going for her good looks, a nice school, and friends. But suddenly and without sufficient warning, life spins out of control. It’s hard not to let life get to you when nothing seems to make sense anymore. Sometimes it takes confinement in the hospital and a lot of time to think to once again get a handle on life.

Prayer for the Twenty-First Century

May the road be free for the journey, May it lead where it promised it would…
These opening words lead to a compelling text that speaks to both young and old, expressing the deeply held hopes and fears that we all recognize. Illustrated with paintings, photographs, and collages, this call from the heart contains a message we all wish for our loved ones. This book, once read, will always be remembered. Ages 11 .

Winter

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. She must head back to her old home, where a pair of family tragedies forever altered her life. What she discovers is powerful and shocking but must be dealt with in order for life to go on. This is the striking new novel from John Marsden, Australia’s 1 best selling author for teens, who is ready for his US breakthrough. It rings with hard truths that will resonate incredibly with YA readers.

Hamlet

The Dane as never seen before in a daring, dazzling, sexy prose retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy by best selling author John Marsden. 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.

The Dane as never seen before in a daring, dazzling, sexy prose retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy by best selling author John Marsden. 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.

The 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 rich and haunting allegory for all ages, all cultures.

Norton’s Hut

When a group of young hikers gets lost in a blinding snow storm, they find shelter in an abandoned hut. Inside the hut they find a man who ignores them and by morning he has disappeared. After they are rescued, they question whether either the man or the hut really existed. Ages 10 .