"Tomorrow When The War Began" is the first book in a series of seven that were written by John Marsden and published in 1993. This novel is set in present time, outback Australia. The story is written in 1st person (using past and present tense) by a girl named Ellie. It is about her and her seven friends, six of whom when returning on a camping trip with her into a supposedly impenetrable ravine called Hell, find that their homes have been invaded and their family and friends held hostage at the Wirrawee Showgrounds by an unknown foreign army. They have no homes, no family, and no one to help them. They can run, they can hide, or they can fight, but whatever they do, they"ll have to do it together.
The group of eight teenagers find themselves drawing strength from each other and don't want to split up at the beginning. "Then Homer made an unpopular suggestion, "I think we should split up," There was a whispered howl of protest, if you can have that." P75. But although they split up sometimes out of necessity, they always meet up again as soon as is safely possible. "We are stronger as a group then as singularities.".
The group can be divided evenly into two obvious groups, the girls and the guys. The guys, Homer, Lee, Kevin and Chris, are all very different from each other. .
Before the invasion Homer was very comical and immature, but he gets serious when they find out about the war. "Homer was becoming more surprising with every passing hour. It was getting hard to remember that this fast thinking guy, who"d just spent 15 minutes getting us laughing and talking and feeling good again, wasn't even trusted to hand the books out at school." P104. .
Where as Lee had always been really into his music (piano and violin) and seemed serious and quiet-which doesn't change much throughout the novel-and is often found alone brooding over things. "Lee had kept pretty still since he"d been shot, lying among the rocks, thinking his quiet thoughts.