While I Live: The Ellie Chronicles 1
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4.2 • 6 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
The follow-up to the bestselling Tomorrow series
BOOK 1 IN THE ELLIE CHRONICLES TRILOGY
"Addictive reading" Sydney Morning Herald
"Australia's king of young adult fiction" The Australian
We were halfway up the spur when we heard it. Homer and Gavin and I, just the three of us... I'd say there were fifteen shots in the first volley, evenly spaced, lasting about twenty-five seconds... All the way down the spur I'd heard the scattered shots, getting closer as I got closer, and all the way down I tried to think of reasonable explanations for them, and I couldn't think of a single thing that made sense.
The town of Wirrawee is emerging from war, slowly, like a flower after a cold snap. Businesses are starting to reopen, the school has re-commenced classes, and local farmers are gradually repossessing their land. But it's not the same Australia as before the war. A new nation exists just a few miles away, a new border that separates Australia from its invaders. Or does it?
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.
Fans of Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and John Flanagan will love John Marsden.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The conflict that fractured Australia in Tomorrow, When the War Began is over, and narrator Ellie Linton (who also narrated Tomorrow) is trying to get back to the farmer's life. But before the first chapter of Marsden's launch title in the Ellie Chronicles is through, her parents are brutally killed by militia from the other side of the new border. From there, though, the story becomes less action-packed than fans of the series have come to expect. Ellie, now alone with her friend Homer and young, impetuous Gavin, faces financial hardship and the possible loss of the farm. She decides to keep the family business going, making an enemy of the executor of her parents' estate. Meanwhile, she learns that Homer is involved in a vigilante organization called Liberation that rescues prisoners of war. When a terrorist group captures Homer during a rescue operation, Ellie's trek to retrieve him marks one of the book's few action sequences. The Tomorrow series attracted a following largely for its fast-paced nature and realistic portrayal of life during wartime. With this new offshoot of the series, Marsden takes his heroine in a more introspective direction, devoting most of the book to birthing calves and farmer's auctions instead of gun battles. It's a poignant and powerful read, but may be a disappointment to those seeking an adrenaline rush. Ages 12-up.
