Books by John Marsden

Winter has been away a long time. Mystery surrounded her departure, and mystery surrounds her return. Winter has come home to find answers. Her past is confused, muddled, almost lost. Somehow she has to find that past. Ages 13+.

A manifesto on all aspects of growing up - from parenting and education to the role of literature and imagination - by one of Australia's most passionate and experienced educators and bestselling authors.

Book 3 of the Tomorrow, when the war began series. 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? YOURE ABOUT TO FIND OUT. How long do you think they'll keep looking fo...r 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 its winter. They're still here. But so too are Ellie and Homer and their friends.
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When I hear parents say 'I want my children to enjoy their childhood; there'll be time when they're older to learn about those things', I hear the voices of those who are scared of the vastness of the universe. These adults have a view of childhood as some kind of discrete interv...al, rather than just a few years from the continuum of life. How fortunate that the spirit, courage and curiosity of many young people remain largely undefeated by such adults. John Marsden has spent his adult life engaging with young minds - through both his award-winning, internationally bestselling young adult fiction and his work as one of Australia's most esteemed and experienced educators. As the founder and principal of two schools, John is at the coalface of education and daily witness to the inevitable and yet still mysterious process of growing up. Now, in this astonishing, insightful and hugely ambitious manifesto, John pulls together all he has learned from over 30 years' experience working with and writing for young people. He shares his insights into everything - from the role of schools and the importance of education, to problem parents and problem children and the conundrum of what it means to grow up and be 'happy' in the 21st century.
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The first novel for adults from Australia's master storyteller: John Marsden. Thirteen-year-old Barnaby Fletch is a bag-and-bones orphan in London in the late 1700s. Barnaby lives on his wits and ill-gotten gains, on streets seething with the press of the throng and shadowed by s...inister figures. Life is a precarious business. When he hears of a paradise on the other side of the world - a place called Botany Bay - he decides to commit a crime and get himself transported to a new life, a better life. To succeed, he must survive the trials of Newgate Prison, the stinking hull of a prison ship and the unknown terrors of a journey across the world. And Botany Bay is far from the paradise Barnaby has imagined. When his past and present suddenly collide, he is soon fleeing for his life - once again. A riveting story of courage, hope and extraordinary adventure.
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