SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

August 15, 2007 by Betsy Bird

Best Read with Vegemite: One Shot World Tour – John Marsden and “The Rabbits” (Part One)

August 15, 2007 by Betsy Bird   8 comments

You can’t talk about Australian authors for youth without the name of John Marsden coming up. Sorry. Can’t be done. If we are to believe Something About the Author (Vol. 146) it is because, "First, he is known for not talking down to his audience, fully aware that for many teenagers, life is bleak, challenging, and dangerous. Second, he is applauded for his ability to craft exciting adventure stories in while the young protagonists are called to adult action – with all its moral and ethical implications." Authors that find success in the critical and commercial realms alike live the dream in a lot of way.  Best known, perhaps, for this Tomorrow, When the War Began series, Marsden’s work extends from YA novels to picture books to the creation of his very own school.

Fun Facts:

  • He is the son of Eustace Culham Hudson, which is (let us face it) a magnificent name.

  • The Journey was adapted into an opera by the Australian Music Centre in 1999.

  • In 2006 Marsden opened his own school by the name of Candlebark. The article discussing the matter says that he has books in, "one of every 12 Australian households." Oh my. It makes me wonder what would happen if J.K. Rowling were to do the same.

  • In Something about the Author Autobiography Series (SAAS) he wrote, "Growing up in Australia wasn’t a matter of kangaroos, surfboards, and the wild outback. Not for me anyway. My childhood was spent in the quiet country towns in the green southern states of Victoria and Tasmania. It was peaceful, secure, and often very boring."

  • Marsden has had at least thirty-two different jobs.

  • According to Wikipedia (notoriously unreliable) "In 1982, he was arrested while on the blockade attempting to stop construction of the Franklin Dam. As all the prisons in the region were full due to the number of people arrested, Marsden was placed in the high-security Risdon Prison for a night. He later wrote that he used the experience to help him write scenes in Letters From The Inside and parts of the Tomorrow series."

  • Of Catcher in the Rye in SAAS, "I’d never dreamt you were allowed to write like that . . . For the first time I was reading a genuine, contemporary teenage voice. If I’ve had any success at capturing teenage voices on paper, it’s because of what I learnt at the age of fifteen from J.D. Salinger."

  • Of what may be remembered as his most outstanding book, The Rabbits, the Horn Book review said, "This book is a title to jolt readers . . . There is no doubt as to the writer’s intentions: to sober , sadden, and provoke."

He has a truly beautiful website that requires an enormous screen to view it properly. He also keeps a blog with titles to his posts like Alice: an unsolved mystery, Go ask Alice, and The Elusive Alice, down in the garden, possibly eating cucumbers. It is also notable in that this blog began with the following statement: "I can feel a blog coming on. I am about to blog. I’ve never blogged before but when a blog forms in your stomach and starts to work its way through your system, you know what it is. Blog. Oh God, sorry, that was a big blog, and now I’m about to blog all over the room."

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

(CONTINUED IN PART TWO)

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Announcing the Stinetinglers Winner! The Kettle's Dark Secret by Clara J.

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Bologna Presentations: IBBY Doing the Good Work That Needs to Be Done, Worldwide

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Sydney Taylor Book Blog Award Tour Interview: Featuring Mari Lowe of Aviva Vs. the Dybbuk!

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

The Top Ten Most Disappointing Edibles and Potables of Children's Literature

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Announcing the 2023 Newbery/Caldecott/YMA Pre-Game Show!

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

New Reports Show a Decline in YA Book Sales and I Have Some Thoughts as to Why That Might be Happening

by Karen Jensen, MLS

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

10 Podcasts About Math for K-12 Students | Kidcasts

18 Films for Young Viewers About Pollution, Native American History, and More

11 Family Music Albums To Get Kids Moving

Three Action-Packed Adventures for Fans of 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

Full Steam Ahead with Labo Lado's 'Brick Train'

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KELLY HEROLD says

    August 15, 2007 at 6:39 am

    God, that blog quote is simply fantastic.

  2. TadMack says

    August 15, 2007 at 11:13 am

    Ooh! Link-a-riffic!
    His site IS awesome! Wow.

    Heh. I, too, am about to blog…

  3. Highschool student says

    September 29, 2007 at 12:45 am

    In highschool, we’re currently studying your book. We’re trying to find the meaning of the pictures and the book itself. Is this book trying to mock us? In what way is it mocking us? Positive or Negative?

  4. Fuse #8 says

    September 29, 2007 at 4:28 am

    Really! I’m just thrilled to hear that a high school is tackling this title. I was under the impression that it was a lost classic.

  5. bon says

    October 18, 2007 at 3:21 am

    hello

  6. simon says

    March 11, 2008 at 2:29 am

    John’s father’s middle name is spelt

    Culham, not Cullen

  7. Aleksandria says

    March 15, 2008 at 6:19 pm

    hi. i am Aleksandria and for my english assignment i have to write about one page this page is rthe black page which says” where is the rich, dark eath, brown……..gun trees? I need help can you help me. P.S. i love the way you had told the story in this book

  8. anonymous says

    March 20, 2009 at 12:40 am

    We’re using this book to demonstrate how meaning is created in relation to the concept of the Odd One Out for english. I am currently writing an essay on it and have already written a speech. A moving picture book with amazing illustrations and demonstrating the concept we are learning very clearly!

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023