I am not an expert on John Marsden. I don’t even have any authority to speak about his career or his books beyond a reader and fly by observer, there are plenty of articles and commentary coming out that are more knowledgeable than I. But I knew he was a staple in Australian YA and had written some of the most memorable books on the landscape and the most important books in my reading career. When I saw he had died it was a real shock. He was 74 so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, but it still felt too soon.
I first picked up Tomorrow series when a friend recommended it in Year 7. The year was 2001 and I was thirteen years old. I loved them. I loved Ellie and how she was not perfect or powerful, but she was capable and smart. She was one in a group of teens who were caught up in a mythical war on Australian soil. From then on I was hooked.
After reading the Tomorrow series I picked up the next Marsden book our library had which was Checkers. It was incredible. Short, unassuming, but packs a punch and hits you in the face right at the end. I had never read anything like it. I didn’t know you could write a book like this. Reading Checkers made me want to do to others what Marsden had done to me. I wanted to write a book that lured the reader in then turned everything on their head at the end. I wanted to blow them away with an ending like that and a story so incredible.
I had always written stories and I’m fairly sure the idea of being a writer was in my brain for a few years at that point, but reading Marsden cemented the idea. I would spend every opportunity recommending Checkers to people and still do despite the fact it probably isn’t as amazing and life changing to others as it was to me.
Winter was another fantastic read, Letters from the Inside, and So Much to Tell You. Marsden loved stories with female voices where they had flaws and were difficult, stubborn, troubled, and in trouble. I don’t think I understood how important that was at the time but now I adored seeing these girls be imperfect. They were loving too, and emotional, and brave. They were human. That’s not to say he doesn’t write boys well either. His retelling of Hamlet was divine, and The Journey brought us the wonderful Argus.
Tomorrow is his powerhouse series of course. Robyn, Ellie, Lee – these characters were instrumental in my love of how regular people can make change. There’s scenes in Tomorrow that are so impactful that I will never forget them. These characters who are so human and so ordinary that are drawn to fight and make a stand. Like Katniss a decade later, these teens looked at the world around them and wanted to stay out of it but were dragged into it, trying to get through it and keeping their humanity intact.
Marsden’s school in Victoria was my dream school. I think I only wanted to go because it was his. I admired him as a writer and thought the brilliant mind I saw in his books would be just as incredible as a teacher. It didn’t matter I was a state away and rapidly aging out of the accepted age for admission.
The absolute highlight was finally getting to meet him in 2013. I did the long drive to Maitland where there was an event and got my sun bleached copies of my Tomorrow books signed. I was a nervous wreck and babbled incoherently and became tongue tied but got through it.
Prior to this meeting my mum got to be at an event with him where she spoke to him about my dreams of being a writer. On a scrap piece of paper he wrote a brief note to me that said To Amy, Take risks!. I framed it and had it sitting on my desk for years where I could stare at it.
Thankfully he published South of Darkness soon after because I got to meet him again in 2014 as I attended a literary lunch through Dymocks. It was super expensive but an amazing experience. I wrote a bit about it at the time and I still remember the wonderful chat around my table (and my first time trying spatchcock), while sitting in the amazingly swanky Shangri-La Hotel. I was feeling incredibly out of place and about fifteen years younger than everyone around me.
The final time I got to see him was when he came to the Sydney Writer’s Festival in 2015 and I got more of my books signed. His sessions about writing and students and education were amazing, and it was clear he had a passion for kids learning and discovering the world around them.
I am not here to say he was the perfect person, or writer. I was old enough to read about and understand the conversation about kids and schools, his views on a range of subjects and people’s views about his opinions. Again, I am not even remotely equipped to talk about that. I know he wasn’t the perfect person, no one is, but the impact he has had on the Aussie YA scene can’t be denied.
I’d like to think if nothing else preservers the Tomorrow series will. It could get readers to expand to his other books and start a chain reaction of then go onto reading authors like him and who like him. I started reading Alice Pung because John Marsden spoke highly of her work, and Alice wrote her own book about Marsden which I loved.
Authors make other authors, and they can change the lives of readers. And even if you were someone who only read his work, I hope his impact will stay with you long after. I know his books changed who I am and I will always be grateful of that.
I did not realise until writing this I had so many rereads in my five star category. I thought there’d be more but clearly I was not that generous last year. I thought about adding some four stars but that is not the rules here. I had 25 to choose from and most of them were in a series or rereads. On the flipside, if I had read the pile of picture books I had gotten from work last year when I borrowed them instead of early in the new year I would have a few more options for that category, but those will have to wait for next time. Like last year where I only had four main reads, this time I only have four in my picture books. I will definitely have to up my reading game this year and try and find some magnificent reads that are stand alone books.
The highlight of the whole entire year was finally reading the masterpiece that is Animorphs. As a whole I have to give the entire series five stars. A lot of the individual books rated five stars, but I have to acknowledge the absolute way this series took over my life for two months and continues to live in my head as one of the most impactful things I’ve ever read.
This was a reread but it was amazing once again. I love the humour and the amazing science behind it. Mark is a great narrator and Weir tells the story in creative ways that are impactful and clever. There are enough little surprises that each time I am amazed by a plot twist because there’s tiny details I forget while other favouritess stick firmly in my mind.
This is number two in the series but it was an amazing read. Wayward Children is a brilliant series and tells the story of children who have found other worlds and then returned to their original world often against their wishes. Down Among the Sticks and Bones is the backstory of two characters we met in book one and is an incredible insight into their characters and the imagination of McGuire. It’s a tad morbid and maybe lightly gruesome in context with mad scientists and paranormal figures but highly enjoyable with a fabulous narrative voice and dry humour.
Another reread but the entire series holds up really well. My favourite book is still number five Burning for Revenge but going on the whole journey with Ellie, Homer and everyone else after so many years was so much fun and it’s truly a classic Aussie YA series everyone should read. It goes through the realities of war, of growing up, of being teenagers, and enduring the unexpected and unfathomable.
Even though I gave this five stars when I read it, it feels weird adding to my Top Five. It feels too obvious. Too…I dunno, weird. But it certainly a five star read. Douglas Adams is a genius with his words, his ideas, his ability to loop everything back together and weave the strings together where what seems nonsensical suddenly had greater meaning. And then of course at the same time make you realise nothing has meaning. It’s a fantastic book and a great introduction to the five book trilogy and even though it seems a clear choice, you can’t ignore it is still all these years later an amazing read.
Jon Klassen is one of my all-time favourite picture book authors and this is a new addition to his spectacular catalogue. The humour found in all his books is there, there’s drama and beauty, suspense and jealousy. The use of the page in terms of illustrations and text narration is amazing and I love the unexpectedness of the story.
I was crying with laughter by the end of this book which is a solid review in itself. The illustrations are also fantastically cute, filled with colour and great character designs. The humour is great, it’s engaging for kids and adults, and the absurdity adds a whole other level of enjoyment.
Once again drawn in by a cute cover and rewarded with a great story. The illustrations aren’t only adorable but there is a great story about wanting to big and grown up only to realise there is something wonderfully special about being yourself and not rushing to change who you are.
I was surprised how much I adored this book. Mini Rabbit is adorable and her desire to help and her curiosity and enthusiasm for everything is lovely. The illustrations are charming and really pull you into the story and make you invested in the story.
Hamlet’s father has just died. By the time they’ve filled in the grave his mother has remarried. Hamlet suspects foul play, and it’s troubling his spirit. Or maybe he was always troubled. Ophelia is in love with him. His best friend Horatio can’t work him out. Then, on a cold, still night, Hamlet meets the ghost of his father…
