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Synopsis
From Hell to Stratton isn’t an easy trip, especially when the enemy’s headquarters lies somewhere in between. And that’s exactly where Ellie and her friends unwillingly find themselves — smack in the middle of the Wirrawee airfield. With only five of them against hundreds of armed soldiers, escape seems like a suicide mission. The odds aren’t good, and Kevin’s nervous breakdown isn’t helping matters.
Ellie and her compatriots are back, battling to stay alive and struggling to stay together in John Marsden’s latest book in the TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN series. High-speed truck chases, unexpected river journeys, and treachery by one of their own are just a few of the problems these Australian teens face in this gritty tale of war and survival.
KLIATT
This is the latest book in the successful series, Tomorrow, When the War Began. A small group of Australian teenagers continue to be engaged in guerrilla warfare against the nameless invaders of their homeland. One of the group, Ellie, narrates the action as the friends find a way to blow up an important airfield. Usually what happens is the group (five of them now) decide they can't stand inaction if only because they are so miserable, so they exit their safe area and then events dictate their making quick decisions, usually violent ones, to save themselves and to strike against the enemy. From the first book, the teenagers realize that the horror and violence are having an effect on their very personalities, on who they are. In this book, they encounter children who have been living on their own, surviving as best they can in an abandoned suburb—children who have by now become savage creatures with little memory of "civilized" behavior. The teenagers are now realizing that even when the war is over, when the invaders are expelled, it will be difficult to build up the way of life they knew before the war, because everyone will be different, including themselves. The action is exciting—there is one close call after another. The split decisions that are forced upon them, with Ellie feeling the burden of being the catalyst in the group, are truly amazing. Good escape fiction for YAs who like action—especially action with teenagers in charge of their own lives. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1997, Houghton Mifflin, 263p, 98-51986, $15.00. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Claire Rosser; November 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 6)