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Ellie and her friends, a small band of teenagers trying to survive in the Australian countryside, continue to resist the enemies who have invaded their country.Tags
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This series has got me thinking about so many things we take for granted at this time in Australia. I have never read a book about war that I felt I could relate to. It always felt like an account of something far, far away, or ancient history. This is right in our backyard. I loved how I was all of a sudden thinking about the first Australian settlers through the eyes of the Aboriginals. This series is so relevant but in a way that is very accessible to teens. Possibly even more so now as the superpowers seem to have shifted away from America to Asia, and refugees are a hot political topic. I can't wait to find out what happens next. I hope the movie inspires people to read the rest of the story.
I am still greatly enjoying the Tomorrow Series by author John Marsden. A Killing Frost is the third book in the series about a group of teenagers who were on a camping trip when their country was invaded. They take refugee in the wilderness but eventually they launch a few attacks. A couple of their group gave themselves up after one was badly wounded and another has died but the core group is still together and now they have decided to attempt their most ambitious attack yet.
Narrated by Ellie, a 17 year old Australian farm girl, these books are full of action and adventure. They are also a great insight into the youthful mind and in this aspect I think the author excels. These are kids, they are homesick, scared, and at times bored. show more They branch into couples, but living the way they do, often find that friendship is more important than romance. Sometimes they argue and sometimes they make mistakes, all of which make them seem real.
The author pulls no punches, and A Killing Frost was a harrowing and exciting story of their sabotage mission and it’s after-effects. This book had real closure and left me wondering if this was originally planned as a trilogy. Luckily, there are more books in this series left for me to join Ellie and her friends in their effort to overthrow the invaders and take back their country. show less
Narrated by Ellie, a 17 year old Australian farm girl, these books are full of action and adventure. They are also a great insight into the youthful mind and in this aspect I think the author excels. These are kids, they are homesick, scared, and at times bored. show more They branch into couples, but living the way they do, often find that friendship is more important than romance. Sometimes they argue and sometimes they make mistakes, all of which make them seem real.
The author pulls no punches, and A Killing Frost was a harrowing and exciting story of their sabotage mission and it’s after-effects. This book had real closure and left me wondering if this was originally planned as a trilogy. Luckily, there are more books in this series left for me to join Ellie and her friends in their effort to overthrow the invaders and take back their country. show less
John Marsden's Tomorrow series is one of the best Australian young adult series ever written. It follows the experiences of a group of teenagers who go camping in a serene clearing called 'Hell' and return to find their homeland invaded, their beloved pets dead and their families held prisoner at the local showground. After the initial shock and fear, they decide that it wouldn't do just to sit tight and hope for the best - better to fight. With realistic action and the conflicting emotions that come from war (at one point Ellie wonders how many people it is OK to kill just to keep herself alive), this series will have you thinking about what you would do if you were in their shoes. The Tomorrow series is neither pro or anti war. It show more simply tells what happens and leaves the reader to judge. If you don't read this series you are missing out on something great. show less
About half way through this novel I started to wonder if I would continue the series. The third instalment seemed to be taking a very similar path to the previous two and it felt as though Marsden was sticking to a tried and true formula. However the last quarter of the book really diverges from where you might expect it to go and hooked me back in.
One of Marden's greatest strengths as a writer is that he isn't afraid to write his teenage characters as teenagers. With the exception of their daring (and perhaps somewhat unrealistic) adventures they feel true to life. The last half of the book is the perfect showcase for this. The characters are tested in a new way and it would be the easy for a writer to fall back on the trope of tough show more talking witty teenage heroes. Instead we see these characters fumble and act in a way that is no doubt human but also adolescent.
There are a lot of great emotional beats throughout the course of this novel but the last two chapters are perhaps the best. It felt inevitable that not all the main OG characters would make it out alive this time but I was still surprised when the time came. Robyn's sacrifice feels so true to her character but it is nonetheless heartbreaking and unexpected. Ellies description of the look on her face in this chapter and the epilogue is awful and poignant.
My biggest complaint is of the epilogue simply because I think Marsden utilises "...weeks/days/months later" too often and skips over events that would be great content and character wise. show less
One of Marden's greatest strengths as a writer is that he isn't afraid to write his teenage characters as teenagers. With the exception of their daring (and perhaps somewhat unrealistic) adventures they feel true to life. The last half of the book is the perfect showcase for this. The characters are tested in a new way and it would be the easy for a writer to fall back on the trope of tough show more talking witty teenage heroes. Instead we see these characters fumble and act in a way that is no doubt human but also adolescent.
My biggest complaint is of the epilogue simply because I think Marsden utilises "...weeks/days/months later" too often and skips over events that would be great content and character wise. show less
"You have to believe in something. That is all."
wow. action packed adventure. The kids: Fi, Lee, Ellie, Homer & Robyn are still free....well, more like 'not held hostage.'
But for this group, not being caught is never enough. Their families and neighbors are still being held - and now they are being forced to work to start repairing houses and farms to give over to the people who invaded the country.
after devising a plan, they are able to make another attack on the island against those who have invaded.
but will they all make it out alive? Is it the best decision to make? they are still just kids....can they really pull this off?
I love how John Marsden has done a wonderful job of taking these kind of silly teenagers and really making show more them grow up, grow de-sensitized and really have to live this Hell. Not just in Hell, but each of their own versions of it too. Just amazing and well done. and wow, what they have been through.
This series is absolutely wonderful! I can't wait for the next one! I have no idea where this is going from here!! show less
wow. action packed adventure. The kids: Fi, Lee, Ellie, Homer & Robyn are still free....well, more like 'not held hostage.'
But for this group, not being caught is never enough. Their families and neighbors are still being held - and now they are being forced to work to start repairing houses and farms to give over to the people who invaded the country.
after devising a plan, they are able to make another attack on the island against those who have invaded.
but will they all make it out alive? Is it the best decision to make? they are still just kids....can they really pull this off?
I love how John Marsden has done a wonderful job of taking these kind of silly teenagers and really making show more them grow up, grow de-sensitized and really have to live this Hell. Not just in Hell, but each of their own versions of it too. Just amazing and well done. and wow, what they have been through.
This series is absolutely wonderful! I can't wait for the next one! I have no idea where this is going from here!! show less
275 pages.Best of the series so far. Marsden continues to explore what happens to kids turned fighters during a war. Marsden does an excellent job of weaving a good story and developing fully realized characters. I would not recommend this book for a pre teen to read. There are violent acts written about in detail. The book could be used by teachers and parents as a jumping off point to discuss the nature of heroism, and loyality, and when or if acts of violence are justified . The book is not an antiwar diatribe. Marsden asks the reader to explore what happens to you during a war. Marsden asks you to think about the after affects of a violent act. If you love to own books then buy the whole seven book series Other wise get your local show more library to buy all of them. These books should be in a local school library and most large public libraries. show less
The tone of second book in this series for some reason had a darker feel than this third book. It left me feeling a bit exhausted. I didn't react that way to this third book. I'm not sure why because this one has just as many horrible events. The ending of this book is bittersweet. I still can't wait to get my hands on the fourth novel in this series to read what happens next to Ellie and her friends.
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John Marsden was born in Victoria, Australia in 1950. He was working as a teacher when his first book, So Much to Tell You, was published in 1987. His other works include the Tomorrow series and Ellie chronicles. He bought an 850-acre property just outside Melbourne, Australia where he ran writers' courses and camps for eight years. In 2006, he show more opened a school there called Candlebark. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Third Day, The Frost
- Original title
- The Third Day, The Frost
- Alternate titles
- A Killing Frost
- Original publication date
- 1996; 1995
- People/Characters
- Ellie Linton; Homer Yannos; Lee Takkampurazhat; Fiona "Fi" Maxwell; Kevin Holmes; Robyn Mathers
- Important places
- Wirrawee, Australia; Australia; New Zealand; Cobbler's Bay, Australia
- Epigraph
- The third day comes a frost, a killing frost... - King Henry VIII, William Shakespeare
'The third day comes a frost, a killing frost...'
King Henry VIII, William shakespeare - Dedication
- To my sister and long-time friend, Rosalind Alexander - J.M.
Tom my sister and long-time friend,
Rosalind Alexander - First words
- Sometimes I think I'd rather be frightened than bored.
- Quotations
- You have to believe in something. That’s all.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)That's all.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- Originally published in Australia as The Third Day, The Frost. Republished in the US as A Killing Frost.
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