Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Also, under the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War they shouldn't have been tried at all; they should have been treated as francs-tireurs and sent to PoW camps, not executed - though as they failed to wear any sort of uniform it is possible to argue they do not fall under the protections, depending on whether Protocol I was ratified by the invading state or not.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 99 (click to see context) from:
* ShootTheFueltank: Played straight and often.
to:
* ShootTheFueltank: ShootTheFuelTank: Played straight and often.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Added a trope
Added DiffLines:
* ShellShockedVeteran: In ''The Other Side of Dawn,'' many of Ellie's neighbors, having come back from detention camps, show signs of PTSD, and Ellie herself has clearly been changed by the war...not always for the better. This becomes more apparent in the sequel trilogy, ''The Ellie Chronicles.''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Moved from YMMV.
Added DiffLines:
* WriterOnBoard: Marsden becomes a lot more overt in the ''Ellie Chronicles'' in using his characters as mouthpieces for political and philosophical ideas, and there are lots of references to (ie recommendations of) books and poems.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 139 (click to see context) from:
* MamaBear: Ellie goes throuh hell to keep Gavin.
to:
* MamaBear: Ellie goes throuh through hell to keep Gavin.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 9 (click to see context) from:
* ''The Third Day, the Frost''
to:
* ''The Third Day, the Frost''Frost''[[note]]''A Killing Frost'' [[MarketBasedTitle In the U.S]][[/note]]
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* ChildSoldiers
to:
Changed line(s) 40,41 (click to see context) from:
* CrazyEnoughToWork
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Ellie and Fi discuss in one book whether they think the guys do this when the girls aren't around. Ellie reveals that she once [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown walked in on Homer]] doing it and decided not to mention it to avoid awkwardness.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Ellie and Fi discuss in one book whether they think the guys do this when the girls aren't around. Ellie reveals that she once [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown walked in on Homer]] doing it and decided not to mention it to avoid awkwardness.
to:
*
** Ellie and Fi discuss in one book whether they think the guys do this when the girls aren't around. Ellie reveals that she once [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown walked in on Homer]] doing it and decided not to mention it to avoid awkwardness.
Deleted line(s) 59 (click to see context) :
* GirlsWithGuns
Changed line(s) 61,62 (click to see context) from:
* HollywoodTactics: Most notably in ''Darkness, Be My Friend'', when they try to [[spoiler:take down the airfield by putting sugar in the gas tanks of planes. It doesn't work, but due to the tank being padlocked]].
** Interestingly, there was a RealLife incident of sabotage involving foresting equipment where exactly this happened, and it worked (due to the substance sparking a chemical reaction).
** Interestingly, there was a RealLife incident of sabotage involving foresting equipment where exactly this happened, and it worked (due to the substance sparking a chemical reaction).
to:
* HollywoodTactics: Most notably in ''Darkness, Be My Friend'', when they try to [[spoiler:take down the airfield by putting sugar in the gas tanks of planes. It doesn't work, but due to the tank being padlocked]].
**padlocked]]. Interestingly, there was a RealLife incident of sabotage involving foresting equipment where exactly this happened, and it worked (due to the substance sparking a chemical reaction).
**
Changed line(s) 69 (click to see context) from:
* JustPlaneWrong: The most egregious examples can be found in ''Burning For Revenge'' [[spoiler:"All [the Jet Fighters'] fabric had been burnt away and you could only see black ribs, like a balsawood framework of a plane." Aside from the fact that the use of "fabric" in aircraft was largely obsolete by 1930, the skins and framework on modern aircraft are usually made of the same alloy and would have melted at the same temperature.]]
to:
* JustPlaneWrong: JustPlaneWrong:
** The most egregious examples can be found in ''Burning For Revenge'' [[spoiler:"All [the Jet Fighters'] fabric had been burnt away and you could only see black ribs, like a balsawood framework of a plane." Aside from the fact that the use of "fabric" in aircraft was largely obsolete by 1930, the skins and framework on modern aircraft are usually made of the same alloy and would have melted at the same temperature.]]
** The most egregious examples can be found in ''Burning For Revenge'' [[spoiler:"All [the Jet Fighters'] fabric had been burnt away and you could only see black ribs, like a balsawood framework of a plane." Aside from the fact that the use of "fabric" in aircraft was largely obsolete by 1930, the skins and framework on modern aircraft are usually made of the same alloy and would have melted at the same temperature.]]
Changed line(s) 76 (click to see context) from:
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''The Third Day, The Frost'' / ''A Killing Frost''. (''King Henry VIII'', Shakespeare).
to:
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''The Third Day, The Frost'' / and the [[MarketBasedTitle american title]] ''A Killing Frost''. (''King Frost'' are references to ''King Henry VIII'', Shakespeare).VIII'' by [[ShoutOutToShakespeare Shakespeare]].
Changed line(s) 90 (click to see context) from:
* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* LotsOfLuggage: In ''Tomorrow When The War Began'', Fi, who starts out as something of a DumbBlond, (although she subverts it later and she's really more of a HairOfGoldHeartOfGold type) is ridiculed by the other characters for bringing insane amounts of luggage on a camping trip.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Australian slang is different to British slang. Chooks, anyone?
Deleted line(s) 99 (click to see context) :
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Australian slang is different to British slang. Chooks, anyone?
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
*BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler: Corrie]] has this when they get shot.
Added DiffLines:
*MoodWhiplash: Happens at the beginning when they first get back from Hell and find Ellie's dogs, dead in the yard.
** Again when Lee, Homer, Fi and Ellie come home triumphant over the bridge incident, only to find [[spoiler: Corrie has been shot and is seriously injured]]
** Again when Lee, Homer, Fi and Ellie come home triumphant over the bridge incident, only to find [[spoiler: Corrie has been shot and is seriously injured]]
Added DiffLines:
*NobodyPoops: Averted. The 'dunny' or toilet is mentioned several times, including a particular icky one where Ellie mentions they have to dig another toilet as they had already filled the original.
Added DiffLines:
* PietaPlagiarism: Corrie is this in Kevin's lap [[spoiler: after she has been shot]]. It is even {{lampshaded}} when Ellie says she walks into what looks like Jesus's barn.
Added DiffLines:
*SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Australian slang is different to British slang. Chooks, anyone?
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
*EstablishingCharacterMoment: At the start of the series, Homer is seen as a delinquent by the others, but when we first see him he is fixing a pipe and is pleased when it doesn't leak. His ability to fix things and general practicality becomes very useful later in the book.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
\'Reminiscing\' is a loaded verb - this example equates to a reading-between-the-lines spoiler.
Changed line(s) 82 (click to see context) from:
*** There's also a mention, when Ellie is reminiscing about Corrie, about the two trying (and failing) to synchronise their periods after reading about it in a magazine.
to:
*** There's also a mention, when mention of Ellie is reminiscing about Corrie, about the two and Corrie trying (and failing) to synchronise synchronize their periods after reading about it in a magazine.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 7 (click to see context) from:
* ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''
to:
* ''Tomorrow, When The the War Began''
Changed line(s) 9 (click to see context) from:
* ''The Third Day, The Frost''
to:
* ''The Third Day, The the Frost''
Changed line(s) 11,12 (click to see context) from:
* ''Burning For Revenge''
* ''The Night Is For Hunting''
* ''The Night Is For Hunting''
to:
* ''Burning For for Revenge''
* ''The Night IsFor for Hunting''
* ''The Night Is
Changed line(s) 21,22 (click to see context) from:
A [[{{Film/Tomorrow When The War Began}} movie]] premiered on August 8, 2010, and got a wide release in Australia on September 2, 2010. It was successful enough that [[http://www.joblo.com/red-dawn-ish-aussie-movie-tomorrow-when-the-war-began-gets-more-tomorrows the rest of the series is also being adapted.]] Available in the United States on home media. The trailer is up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxb8rgq_Un8 here.]]
to:
A [[{{Film/Tomorrow When The the War Began}} movie]] premiered on August 8, 2010, and got a wide release in Australia on September 2, 2010. It was successful enough that [[http://www.joblo.com/red-dawn-ish-aussie-movie-tomorrow-when-the-war-began-gets-more-tomorrows the rest of the series is also being adapted.]] Available in the United States on home media. The trailer is up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxb8rgq_Un8 here.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 62 (click to see context) from:
* HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection: The "Enemy" is hinted to be Indonesia or possibly China, but is left unnamed; JohnMarsden deliberately left it ambiguous.
to:
* HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection: The "Enemy" is hinted to be Indonesia or possibly China, but is left unnamed; JohnMarsden deliberately left it ambiguous. [[http://www.rsimpson.id.au/books/tomorrow/explore/enemy.html This page]], on the other hand, points out that there is ''no one'' close to Australia that fits what information is given about them.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 23,24 (click to see context) from:
By the way, this series is totally not ''Film/RedDawn1984'' in the outback. Honest.
to:
By the way, this series is totally not ''Film/RedDawn1984'' ''[[Film/RedDawn1984 Red Dawn]]'' in the outback. Honest.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 117 (click to see context) :
* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Little Brother]]: Bronte's backstory.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Deleted line(s) 67 (click to see context) :
* ItGotWorse: To put it mildly...
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 23,24 (click to see context) from:
By the way, this series is totally not ''Film/RedDawn'' in the outback. Honest.
to:
By the way, this series is totally not ''Film/RedDawn'' ''Film/RedDawn1984'' in the outback. Honest.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 62,64 (click to see context) from:
* HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection: The "Enemy" is fairly obviously an expy of Indonesia, but is diplomatically never named, and shares several notable differences from RL Indonesia.
** '''YMMV''' on that. Some saw the Enemy as China, North or South Korea or even India. Marsden deliberately kept it ambiguous as to who the Enemy was, as to prevent [[FanDumb readers]] claiming that they knew they couldn't trust Country X.
*** Naturally, and that's why the parameters don't fit any one nation at all. However, [[TheLargestDemocracy India]] is explicitly ruled out given that it tries to play peacemaker, and South Korea's also all but disqualified- though not as explicitly as India-. Of these, North Korea's unlikely unless this is [[Homefront some other series]] and would be far too population strapped trying to take on Australia. That leaves Indonesia and China as the "plausible" Enemy.
** '''YMMV''' on that. Some saw the Enemy as China, North or South Korea or even India. Marsden deliberately kept it ambiguous as to who the Enemy was, as to prevent [[FanDumb readers]] claiming that they knew they couldn't trust Country X.
*** Naturally, and that's why the parameters don't fit any one nation at all. However, [[TheLargestDemocracy India]] is explicitly ruled out given that it tries to play peacemaker, and South Korea's also all but disqualified- though not as explicitly as India-. Of these, North Korea's unlikely unless this is [[Homefront some other series]] and would be far too population strapped trying to take on Australia. That leaves Indonesia and China as the "plausible" Enemy.
to:
* HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection: The "Enemy" is fairly obviously an expy of Indonesia, hinted to be Indonesia or possibly China, but is diplomatically never named, and shares several notable differences from RL Indonesia.
** '''YMMV''' on that. Some saw the Enemy as China, North or South Korea or even India. Marsdenleft unnamed; JohnMarsden deliberately kept left it ambiguous as to who the Enemy was, as to prevent [[FanDumb readers]] claiming that they knew they couldn't trust Country X.
*** Naturally, and that's why the parameters don't fit any one nation at all. However, [[TheLargestDemocracy India]] is explicitly ruled out given that it tries to play peacemaker, and South Korea's also all but disqualified- though not as explicitly as India-. Of these, North Korea's unlikely unless this is [[Homefront some other series]] and would be far too population strapped trying to take on Australia. That leaves Indonesia and China as the "plausible" Enemy.ambiguous.
** '''YMMV''' on that. Some saw the Enemy as China, North or South Korea or even India. Marsden
*** Naturally, and that's why the parameters don't fit any one nation at all. However, [[TheLargestDemocracy India]] is explicitly ruled out given that it tries to play peacemaker, and South Korea's also all but disqualified- though not as explicitly as India-. Of these, North Korea's unlikely unless this is [[Homefront some other series]] and would be far too population strapped trying to take on Australia. That leaves Indonesia and China as the "plausible" Enemy.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 21,22 (click to see context) from:
A [[{{Film/Tomorrow When The War Began}} movie]] premiered on August 8, 2010, and got a wide release in Australia on September 2, 2010. It was successful enough that [[http://www.joblo.com/red-dawn-ish-aussie-movie-tomorrow-when-the-war-began-gets-more-tomorrows the rest of the series is also being adapted.]] No word on an American release, although given the books' failure to catch on in America, [[NoExportForYou we're not getting our hopes up]]. The trailer is up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxb8rgq_Un8 here.]]
to:
A [[{{Film/Tomorrow When The War Began}} movie]] premiered on August 8, 2010, and got a wide release in Australia on September 2, 2010. It was successful enough that [[http://www.joblo.com/red-dawn-ish-aussie-movie-tomorrow-when-the-war-began-gets-more-tomorrows the rest of the series is also being adapted.]] No word on an American release, although given Available in the books' failure to catch United States on in America, [[NoExportForYou we're not getting our hopes up]].home media. The trailer is up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxb8rgq_Un8 here.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 23,24 (click to see context) from:
By the way, this series is totally not ''RedDawn'' in the outback. Honest.
to:
By the way, this series is totally not ''RedDawn'' ''Film/RedDawn'' in the outback. Honest.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
*** Off the beaten path, the most likely identity of the enemy is probably Indonesia, to the extent that matters.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
*** Naturally, and that's why the parameters don't fit any one nation at all. However, [[TheLargestDemocracy India]] is explicitly ruled out given that it tries to play peacemaker, and South Korea's also all but disqualified- though not as explicitly as India-. Of these, North Korea's unlikely unless this is [[Homefront some other series]] and would be far too population strapped trying to take on Australia. That leaves Indonesia and China as the "plausible" Enemy.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* {{Flanderisation}}: In the movies, Robyn's religion and [[ThouShaltNotKill pacifism]] are played up at the expense of her athleticism. Similarly, Chris's poetic side is ignored and his role as TheStoner is exaggerated.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Tropes cannot be averted/subverted/whatever \"brutally\"
Changed line(s) 26,27 (click to see context) from:
!!TheTomorrowSeries contains examples of:
to:
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Brutally. See AnyoneCanDie above.
to:
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Brutally. See AnyoneCanDie above.
Changed line(s) 135 (click to see context) from:
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Ellie is brutally orphaned in chapter one of the first book. Ellie suspects and the narrative strongly implies that the attack was intended specifically as a reprisal for her activities during the war.
to:
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Ellie is brutally orphaned in chapter one of the first book. Ellie suspects and the narrative strongly implies that the attack was intended specifically as a reprisal for her activities during the war.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** While the damage caused is exaggerated, Ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel mixed together does make a decently powerful explosive, which is common knowledge to many growing up in rural Australia. It was used extensively during The Troubles in Ireland, and also was the explosive used in the World Trade Center Bombing.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
trope renamed at TRS
Changed line(s) 32,33 (click to see context) from:
* BandofBrothers / {{Nakama}} The main characters form one.
* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the main series, the war is over...[[spoiler: but Australia's apparently lost a lot of its territory to the invaders permanently, and several of Ellie's {{Nakama}} are dead, along with one of the feral children.]]
* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the main series, the war is over...[[spoiler: but Australia's apparently lost a lot of its territory to the invaders permanently, and several of Ellie's {{Nakama}} are dead, along with one of the feral children.]]
to:
* BandofBrothers / {{Nakama}} TrueCompanions: The main characters form one.
* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the main series, the war is over...[[spoiler: but Australia's apparently lost a lot of its territory to the invaders permanently, and several of Ellie's{{Nakama}} TrueCompanions are dead, along with one of the feral children.]]
* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the main series, the war is over...[[spoiler: but Australia's apparently lost a lot of its territory to the invaders permanently, and several of Ellie's
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
YMMV sinkhole
Changed line(s) 107 (click to see context) from:
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Ellie and her group are considered terrorists, and convicted of it several times, by the enemy. And in some ways, like fighting out of uniform, not having a clear chain of command and targeting civilians, they do fit the bill quite well. Of course, [[YourMileageMayVary Australians see it differently...]]
to:
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Ellie and her group are considered terrorists, and convicted of it several times, by the enemy. And in some ways, like fighting out of uniform, not having a clear chain of command and targeting civilians, they do fit the bill quite well. Of course, [[YourMileageMayVary Australians see it differently...]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 62 (click to see context) from:
** HeroTrackingFailure: The farmhouse kitchen scene in ''The Night is for Hunting''.
to:
** '''YMMV''' on that. Some saw the Enemy as China, North or South Korea or even India. Marsden deliberately kept it ambiguous as to who the Enemy was, as to prevent [[FanDumb readers]] claiming that they knew they couldn't trust Country X.
* HeroTrackingFailure: The farmhouse kitchen scene in ''The Night is for Hunting''.
* HeroTrackingFailure: The farmhouse kitchen scene in ''The Night is for Hunting''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frost_1154.jpg]]
TheTomorrowSeries was a series of books aimed at {{young adult}}s by Australian author John Marsden. They are written from the perspective of rural teenager Ellie Linton. She and a small group of friends head into an unexplored area of bush for a week-long holiday, and return to find that their houses are abandoned and their animals are dead or dying. They soon realise that Australia was invaded on Commemoration Day, and they are among the very small number of people who have avoided being taken prisoner.
The original series is usually refered to as ''TheTomorrowSeries'' and consisted of seven books published between 1994 and 1999. These are:
* ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''
* ''The Dead of the Night''
* ''The Third Day, The Frost''
* ''Darkness, Be My Friend''
* ''Burning For Revenge''
* ''The Night Is For Hunting''
* ''The Other Side of Dawn''
''The Ellie Chronicles'' was a follow-up series, set in the aftermath of the invasion and subsequent war, which began publication in 2003 and finished in 2006. The titles in this series are:
* ''While I Live''
* ''Incurable''
* ''Circle of Flight''
A [[{{Film/Tomorrow When The War Began}} movie]] premiered on August 8, 2010, and got a wide release in Australia on September 2, 2010. It was successful enough that [[http://www.joblo.com/red-dawn-ish-aussie-movie-tomorrow-when-the-war-began-gets-more-tomorrows the rest of the series is also being adapted.]] No word on an American release, although given the books' failure to catch on in America, [[NoExportForYou we're not getting our hopes up]]. The trailer is up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxb8rgq_Un8 here.]]
By the way, this series is totally not ''RedDawn'' in the outback. Honest.
----
!!TheTomorrowSeries contains examples of:
* AdultsAreUseless: As Ellie and her friends are among such a select few to escape imprisonment, there are no adults to lead them. Those adults that they do meet are either not in a position to help them, or, particularly in the case of Harvey's Heroes, are completely incompetent.
* AnyoneCanDie: Although audiences were certainly shocked by [[spoiler:Corrie, Chris and Robyn's deaths]], the AnyoneCanDie feel was cemented after [[spoiler:seven year old Davina]] dies in ''The Night Is For Hunting''.
* ApocalypticLog: When the group returns to find everything abandoned, Corrie finds a letter from her father reading, in part, "...I'm sending this anyway, then tearing it up so no one'll know what an idiot I've been. But Corrie, if you do get this, '''go bush'''. Take great care. Don't come out till you know it's safe."
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In ''The Third Day, The Frost'', Ellie's list of injuries includes "shock, cracked vertebrae, fractured patella, malnutrition, cuts and abrasions, acute anxiety state, head lice".
* BandofBrothers / {{Nakama}} The main characters form one.
* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the main series, the war is over...[[spoiler: but Australia's apparently lost a lot of its territory to the invaders permanently, and several of Ellie's {{Nakama}} are dead, along with one of the feral children.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Fi's coping with the war, and her parents being prisoners, and having to live in the bush, but then [[spoiler:she has to blow up her own house...]]
* ChildSoldiers
* ClickHello: Subverted in ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''. Ellie hears the click and first panics because she thinks it's an enemy soldier - then realises that she knows that gun, and that it's a friend.
* ContrivedCoincidence: In ''Burning For Revenge'' [[spoiler: Ellie and her friends hide in an enemy truck, which just happens to take them to the airbase they failed to destroy in ''Darkness, Be My Friend'']].
* ConvenientSlowDance: Mentioned. Back before the war, Lee asked Ellie to dance at a school dance during a nice slow song, but it ended up taking him a while to ask her, and they end up dancing to ''Convicted of Love'' instead. When told this story, Ellie admits she doesn't even remember the incident.
* CrazyEnoughToWork
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Ellie and Fi discuss in one book whether they think the guys do this when the girls aren't around. Ellie reveals that she once [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown walked in on Homer]] doing it and decided not to mention it to avoid awkwardness.
** Later, in ''The Ellie Chronicles'', Ellie also walks in on Gavin (who is deaf, and so wouldn't have heard her knock). Ellie leaves quickly before he can see her, and makes a mental note to tell Homer to have a talk with him.
* DeathSeeker: Ellie suspects that this is [[spoiler:Lee's]] motivation after [[spoiler:he finds out his parents have been killed, and he embarks on a series of solo guerilla missions]].
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Ellie. Comes in handy when on the run.
* EasyLogistics: The "enemy"'s assault on Australia would require this in order to work, especially since the geography of Wirrawee and environs suggest it is on the east coast, thousands of kilometres from the more accessible north coast of Australia. [[http://www.rsimpson.id.au/books/tomorrow/explore/invasion.html This page]] does a good job of explaining why such an attack on Australia would be logistically impossible. But this is also subverted in that about half of the heroes' missions are specifically targeting the enemy's logistics (convoys, bridges, ports, railways).
* EnfantTerrible: Gavin in both ''Tomorrow Series' and ''Ellie Chronicles''.
* EvilBrit: Reflecting on the duplicity of the New Zealand colonel who helped in ''Darkness, Be My Friend''. Ellie remarks that she probably should have noted his obvious English accent.
* FakingTheDead: Rescuing [[spoiler:Kevin]] from a prisoner of war camp.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The "Enemy", of (most probably) Indonesia.
* FiveManBand: Although the characters shift somewhat between books, the most prominent band is as follows:
--> TheHero - Ellie
--> TheLancer - Homer
--> TheBigGuy - Kevin
--> TheSmartGuy - Lee
--> TheChick - Fi
** Robyn tends to float between TheBigGuy, TheSmartGuy, and TheChick [[spoiler: before she died.]]
* GirlsWithGuns
* GoodGunsBadGuns: Averted. The bad guys use M-16s too.
* HollywoodTactics: Most notably in ''Darkness, Be My Friend'', when they try to [[spoiler:take down the airfield by putting sugar in the gas tanks of planes. It doesn't work, but due to the tank being padlocked]].
** Interestingly, there was a RealLife incident of sabotage involving foresting equipment where exactly this happened, and it worked (due to the substance sparking a chemical reaction).
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Most of the enemy seem to be honorary graduates.
* HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection: The "Enemy" is fairly obviously an expy of Indonesia, but is diplomatically never named, and shares several notable differences from RL Indonesia.
** HeroTrackingFailure: The farmhouse kitchen scene in ''The Night is for Hunting''.
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Brutally. See AnyoneCanDie above.
* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Averted. In another YA series the deaf child might serve as a foil of sweetness and light and inspiration to all, as well as a [[TheLoad Load]] in times of crisis. Not so here. Gavin averts all the usual conventions that occur when a disabled child is thrown into the narrative mix.
* InTheBack: [[spoiler:Corrie]] is shot in the back at the end of ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''.
* ItGotWorse: To put it mildly...
* JustPlaneWrong: The most egregious examples can be found in ''Burning For Revenge'' [[spoiler:"All [the Jet Fighters'] fabric had been burnt away and you could only see black ribs, like a balsawood framework of a plane." Aside from the fact that the use of "fabric" in aircraft was largely obsolete by 1930, the skins and framework on modern aircraft are usually made of the same alloy and would have melted at the same temperature.]]
** Followed a few pages later by: [[spoiler:"I don't know whether those things [Jet Fighters] are turbo-charged or what..."]]
* KangarooCourt: Ellie and her friends face these a couple of times after capture. Even though they ''are'' guilty, being tried in a foreign language by one's enemies is not generally considered the fairest possible procedure.
* LetsGetOutOfHere: The line is used a few times, followed by Lee (and later other characters) [[{{LampshadeHanging}} remarking]] that it's used in, "like, 60% of movies or something."
* LineOfSightName: Ellie poses as 'Amber Faulding', from the sound of ambulances and a word she saw on a bottle of pills, when she's [[spoiler:taken prisoner in ''The Other Side of Dawn''.]]
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: The series is Ellie's written record of the things they do. During the Ellie Chronicles, she confirms that she did publish the stories after the war.
** WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: They apparently sold poorly, and only the first three were published, which may be a TakeThat to the series' poor US sales in the mid 90s that caused only the first three books to be released initially. The full series was not released in mass-market form until 2008, after the Ellie Chronicles had already begun in Australia, and the final book in the Ellie Chronicles has still not been released.
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''The Third Day, The Frost'' / ''A Killing Frost''. (''King Henry VIII'', Shakespeare).
* MadeOfExplodium: Pretty much any petrol tank will act as a bomb when the plot requires it. Even a lawnmower set alight maimed or killed a couple of soldiers. They destroyed [[spoiler:a bridge]] by igniting [[spoiler:a petrol tanker]] under it - which admittedly would probably work, but not with an explosion. And if you think petrol is impressive, wait til you see what [[spoiler:half a container full of fertilizer and diesel]] will do. It [[spoiler:destroyed one ship and caused major damage to the adjacent wharf.]]
** Homer makes a point of explaining that this is not due to any actual explosion but rather the buildup of pressure (which would work).
* NoExportForYou: Only the first three books were released as part of the series' first American print run, with the other four being held back due to poor sales. The full series got a full American release in 2008, but poor sales ''again'' prevented the release of ''The Ellie Chronicles'' stateside. And who knows if we're ever gonna get [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie]]...
* NoPeriodsPeriod: After almost a year out in the bush, Ellie mentions that she is down to her last tampon. Note that this is the only time 'that time of the month' is mentioned throughout the series.
** It can almost be justified in that after almost a year with little food and high physical and emotional stress that her periods were very weak and far apart.
*** Or Ellie just didn't feel like writing about her periods.
*** There's also a mention, when Ellie is reminiscing about Corrie, about the two trying (and failing) to synchronise their periods after reading about it in a magazine.
** In the movie, Ellie finds Chris sleeping on watch and starts yelling at him. He mutters 'it must be that time of the month' and quickly finds out that this is NOT a smart thing to say to a woman who is justifiably very annoyed with you and HOLDING A LOADED ASSAULT RIFLE.
* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry
* OneSidedBattle: Applied liberally throughout the series.
* PrimalScene: Robin mentions in ''The Dead of the Night'' that this was the last time she saw her parents.
* TheQuisling: [[spoiler:Major Harvey]]
* SawedOffShotgun: The gun that Homer takes with him in ''The Dead of the Night'', after they've agreed not to carry weapons.
* ShootTheFueltank: Played straight and often.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:The final book, ''The Other Side Of Dawn'' ends with the enemy nation being allowed to keep a large portion of the land they have invaded, so while the survivors can move back to Wirrawee, they are now right on the border, and the whole group had effectively been fighting (and dying) for very little]].
* TheirFirstTime: [[spoiler:Ellie and Lee]] in ''The Dead of the Night''. They discuss it at length earlier in the book, and she tells him that she's not comfortable with it, but she changes her mind after some steamy foreplay.
** SleepingSingle: Even after they become sexually active, [[spoiler:Ellie]] 'likes her privacy too much' to ''sleep'' together. Of course, in this case, 'together' is difficult, as double beds are scarce in the bush.
* TheFilmOfTheBook
* TakingYouWithMe: The climax of ''The Third Day, The Frost''.
** PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: Ditto.
** Arguably a StupidSacrifice.
* ThereAreNoCoincidences: Robyn's belief that coincidences are "God's way of telling you to wake up".
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted; while obviously, there are no therapists available to them while they are out in the bush, when [[spoiler:they are airlifted to New Zealand]], one of the first things that happens is that each of them, independently, see therapists.
* TookALevelInBadass: All the main characters; they start out as fairly boringly-normal Australian rural teenagers, and end up as guerrillas with an international reputation...and some of the other side's most wanted enemies.
* TraintopBattle: In ''The Other Side Of Dawn''.
* TrilogyCreep: It was originally a tightly-written trilogy, ending with [[spoiler:the group being airlifted to New Zealand]] at the end of ''The Third Day, The Frost''.
* WarIsHell
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Averted. In the books Ellie frequently reflects on how the enemy soldiers she variously mows down or blows up or hits with big vehicles are people just like her, with hopes and dreams and families who'll miss them. In the film a short scene occurs where Ellie looks at a dying enemy soldier and sees the soldier is a teenage girl just like her.
* YouAlwaysHearTheBullet: Ellie reflects on this after [[spoiler:Corrie]] is shot in ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''.
* YouKnowTheOne: The name of the country that invaded Australia is never mentioned, for obvious pragmatic reasons. They are referred to as 'the enemy' or 'them' throughout. This becomes quite awkward as the characters have no in-story reason for dancing around the name, and are quite willing to name friendly countries such as New Zealand, the United States and Japan.
** John Marsden gave a ShrugOfGod explanation that he didn't know who the invading country was, and in any case, did not want to name them for fear of provoking a racist response from people who "knew they couldn't trust" that country.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Ellie and her group are considered terrorists, and convicted of it several times, by the enemy. And in some ways, like fighting out of uniform, not having a clear chain of command and targeting civilians, they do fit the bill quite well. Of course, [[YourMileageMayVary Australians see it differently...]]
----
!!''The Ellie Chronicles'' contains examples of:
* AdultsAreUseless
* AmoralAttorney: Mr Sale is the small-country-town version.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: The identity of the Scarlet Pimple.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Interesting variation. In ''While I Live'' a grieving Ellie goes through a litany of memories of her parents. It goes without a beat from the sound of her mother's laugh and the way her father fixed a truck to the texture of her mother's pubic hair and the shape of her father's penis.
* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Little Brother]]: Bronte's backstory.
* DemotedToExtra: Fiona appears only briefly in a couple of books, and Kevin is referred to as being in New Zealand but never appears in person. Justified in that one of the themes of the ''Ellie Chronicles'' is the way that life marches on and how things are different once the war is over.
* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Debatable; while Ellie is far from the best caretaker for Gavin, their unique circumstances are overlooked by the investigator, who criticizes Ellie for having a pile of dog doings on her lawn, and for having more soda than milk in her fridge.
* DrugsAreBad: They will get a bogged cow out of a dam though, apparently.
* EnfantTerrible: Gavin.
* FiveManBand
--> TheHero - Ellie
--> TheLancer - Homer
--> TheBigGuy - Gavin
--> TheSmartGuy - Jeremy / Lee (depending on the book)
--> TheChick - Jess
* GrowingUpSucks: Especially when you've just been orphaned.
* [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Adopted Little Brother]]: [[spoiler:Gavin]] is kidnapped in ''Circle of Flight''.
* LaResistance: Liberation in ''The Ellie Chronicles'', an covert-ops organisation involving civilians with the unspoken consent of the military, who carry out missions across the border. The Wirrawee faction is headed by the mysterious [[PunnyName Scarlet Pimple]].
* MamaBear: Ellie goes throuh hell to keep Gavin.
* ParentalAbandonment: Not voluntary.
* PoliceAreUseless
* RealEstateScam: In ''While I Live'' Ellie discovers a plot to force her to sell the farm so the land can be used to develop a holiday lodge for rich tourists.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Ellie is brutally orphaned in chapter one of the first book. Ellie suspects and the narrative strongly implies that the attack was intended specifically as a reprisal for her activities during the war.
----
TheTomorrowSeries was a series of books aimed at {{young adult}}s by Australian author John Marsden. They are written from the perspective of rural teenager Ellie Linton. She and a small group of friends head into an unexplored area of bush for a week-long holiday, and return to find that their houses are abandoned and their animals are dead or dying. They soon realise that Australia was invaded on Commemoration Day, and they are among the very small number of people who have avoided being taken prisoner.
The original series is usually refered to as ''TheTomorrowSeries'' and consisted of seven books published between 1994 and 1999. These are:
* ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''
* ''The Dead of the Night''
* ''The Third Day, The Frost''
* ''Darkness, Be My Friend''
* ''Burning For Revenge''
* ''The Night Is For Hunting''
* ''The Other Side of Dawn''
''The Ellie Chronicles'' was a follow-up series, set in the aftermath of the invasion and subsequent war, which began publication in 2003 and finished in 2006. The titles in this series are:
* ''While I Live''
* ''Incurable''
* ''Circle of Flight''
A [[{{Film/Tomorrow When The War Began}} movie]] premiered on August 8, 2010, and got a wide release in Australia on September 2, 2010. It was successful enough that [[http://www.joblo.com/red-dawn-ish-aussie-movie-tomorrow-when-the-war-began-gets-more-tomorrows the rest of the series is also being adapted.]] No word on an American release, although given the books' failure to catch on in America, [[NoExportForYou we're not getting our hopes up]]. The trailer is up [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxb8rgq_Un8 here.]]
By the way, this series is totally not ''RedDawn'' in the outback. Honest.
----
!!TheTomorrowSeries contains examples of:
* AdultsAreUseless: As Ellie and her friends are among such a select few to escape imprisonment, there are no adults to lead them. Those adults that they do meet are either not in a position to help them, or, particularly in the case of Harvey's Heroes, are completely incompetent.
* AnyoneCanDie: Although audiences were certainly shocked by [[spoiler:Corrie, Chris and Robyn's deaths]], the AnyoneCanDie feel was cemented after [[spoiler:seven year old Davina]] dies in ''The Night Is For Hunting''.
* ApocalypticLog: When the group returns to find everything abandoned, Corrie finds a letter from her father reading, in part, "...I'm sending this anyway, then tearing it up so no one'll know what an idiot I've been. But Corrie, if you do get this, '''go bush'''. Take great care. Don't come out till you know it's safe."
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In ''The Third Day, The Frost'', Ellie's list of injuries includes "shock, cracked vertebrae, fractured patella, malnutrition, cuts and abrasions, acute anxiety state, head lice".
* BandofBrothers / {{Nakama}} The main characters form one.
* BittersweetEnding: At the end of the main series, the war is over...[[spoiler: but Australia's apparently lost a lot of its territory to the invaders permanently, and several of Ellie's {{Nakama}} are dead, along with one of the feral children.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Fi's coping with the war, and her parents being prisoners, and having to live in the bush, but then [[spoiler:she has to blow up her own house...]]
* ChildSoldiers
* ClickHello: Subverted in ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''. Ellie hears the click and first panics because she thinks it's an enemy soldier - then realises that she knows that gun, and that it's a friend.
* ContrivedCoincidence: In ''Burning For Revenge'' [[spoiler: Ellie and her friends hide in an enemy truck, which just happens to take them to the airbase they failed to destroy in ''Darkness, Be My Friend'']].
* ConvenientSlowDance: Mentioned. Back before the war, Lee asked Ellie to dance at a school dance during a nice slow song, but it ended up taking him a while to ask her, and they end up dancing to ''Convicted of Love'' instead. When told this story, Ellie admits she doesn't even remember the incident.
* CrazyEnoughToWork
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Ellie and Fi discuss in one book whether they think the guys do this when the girls aren't around. Ellie reveals that she once [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown walked in on Homer]] doing it and decided not to mention it to avoid awkwardness.
** Later, in ''The Ellie Chronicles'', Ellie also walks in on Gavin (who is deaf, and so wouldn't have heard her knock). Ellie leaves quickly before he can see her, and makes a mental note to tell Homer to have a talk with him.
* DeathSeeker: Ellie suspects that this is [[spoiler:Lee's]] motivation after [[spoiler:he finds out his parents have been killed, and he embarks on a series of solo guerilla missions]].
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Ellie. Comes in handy when on the run.
* EasyLogistics: The "enemy"'s assault on Australia would require this in order to work, especially since the geography of Wirrawee and environs suggest it is on the east coast, thousands of kilometres from the more accessible north coast of Australia. [[http://www.rsimpson.id.au/books/tomorrow/explore/invasion.html This page]] does a good job of explaining why such an attack on Australia would be logistically impossible. But this is also subverted in that about half of the heroes' missions are specifically targeting the enemy's logistics (convoys, bridges, ports, railways).
* EnfantTerrible: Gavin in both ''Tomorrow Series' and ''Ellie Chronicles''.
* EvilBrit: Reflecting on the duplicity of the New Zealand colonel who helped in ''Darkness, Be My Friend''. Ellie remarks that she probably should have noted his obvious English accent.
* FakingTheDead: Rescuing [[spoiler:Kevin]] from a prisoner of war camp.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The "Enemy", of (most probably) Indonesia.
* FiveManBand: Although the characters shift somewhat between books, the most prominent band is as follows:
--> TheHero - Ellie
--> TheLancer - Homer
--> TheBigGuy - Kevin
--> TheSmartGuy - Lee
--> TheChick - Fi
** Robyn tends to float between TheBigGuy, TheSmartGuy, and TheChick [[spoiler: before she died.]]
* GirlsWithGuns
* GoodGunsBadGuns: Averted. The bad guys use M-16s too.
* HollywoodTactics: Most notably in ''Darkness, Be My Friend'', when they try to [[spoiler:take down the airfield by putting sugar in the gas tanks of planes. It doesn't work, but due to the tank being padlocked]].
** Interestingly, there was a RealLife incident of sabotage involving foresting equipment where exactly this happened, and it worked (due to the substance sparking a chemical reaction).
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Most of the enemy seem to be honorary graduates.
* HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection: The "Enemy" is fairly obviously an expy of Indonesia, but is diplomatically never named, and shares several notable differences from RL Indonesia.
** HeroTrackingFailure: The farmhouse kitchen scene in ''The Night is for Hunting''.
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Brutally. See AnyoneCanDie above.
* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Averted. In another YA series the deaf child might serve as a foil of sweetness and light and inspiration to all, as well as a [[TheLoad Load]] in times of crisis. Not so here. Gavin averts all the usual conventions that occur when a disabled child is thrown into the narrative mix.
* InTheBack: [[spoiler:Corrie]] is shot in the back at the end of ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''.
* ItGotWorse: To put it mildly...
* JustPlaneWrong: The most egregious examples can be found in ''Burning For Revenge'' [[spoiler:"All [the Jet Fighters'] fabric had been burnt away and you could only see black ribs, like a balsawood framework of a plane." Aside from the fact that the use of "fabric" in aircraft was largely obsolete by 1930, the skins and framework on modern aircraft are usually made of the same alloy and would have melted at the same temperature.]]
** Followed a few pages later by: [[spoiler:"I don't know whether those things [Jet Fighters] are turbo-charged or what..."]]
* KangarooCourt: Ellie and her friends face these a couple of times after capture. Even though they ''are'' guilty, being tried in a foreign language by one's enemies is not generally considered the fairest possible procedure.
* LetsGetOutOfHere: The line is used a few times, followed by Lee (and later other characters) [[{{LampshadeHanging}} remarking]] that it's used in, "like, 60% of movies or something."
* LineOfSightName: Ellie poses as 'Amber Faulding', from the sound of ambulances and a word she saw on a bottle of pills, when she's [[spoiler:taken prisoner in ''The Other Side of Dawn''.]]
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: The series is Ellie's written record of the things they do. During the Ellie Chronicles, she confirms that she did publish the stories after the war.
** WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: They apparently sold poorly, and only the first three were published, which may be a TakeThat to the series' poor US sales in the mid 90s that caused only the first three books to be released initially. The full series was not released in mass-market form until 2008, after the Ellie Chronicles had already begun in Australia, and the final book in the Ellie Chronicles has still not been released.
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''The Third Day, The Frost'' / ''A Killing Frost''. (''King Henry VIII'', Shakespeare).
* MadeOfExplodium: Pretty much any petrol tank will act as a bomb when the plot requires it. Even a lawnmower set alight maimed or killed a couple of soldiers. They destroyed [[spoiler:a bridge]] by igniting [[spoiler:a petrol tanker]] under it - which admittedly would probably work, but not with an explosion. And if you think petrol is impressive, wait til you see what [[spoiler:half a container full of fertilizer and diesel]] will do. It [[spoiler:destroyed one ship and caused major damage to the adjacent wharf.]]
** Homer makes a point of explaining that this is not due to any actual explosion but rather the buildup of pressure (which would work).
* NoExportForYou: Only the first three books were released as part of the series' first American print run, with the other four being held back due to poor sales. The full series got a full American release in 2008, but poor sales ''again'' prevented the release of ''The Ellie Chronicles'' stateside. And who knows if we're ever gonna get [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie]]...
* NoPeriodsPeriod: After almost a year out in the bush, Ellie mentions that she is down to her last tampon. Note that this is the only time 'that time of the month' is mentioned throughout the series.
** It can almost be justified in that after almost a year with little food and high physical and emotional stress that her periods were very weak and far apart.
*** Or Ellie just didn't feel like writing about her periods.
*** There's also a mention, when Ellie is reminiscing about Corrie, about the two trying (and failing) to synchronise their periods after reading about it in a magazine.
** In the movie, Ellie finds Chris sleeping on watch and starts yelling at him. He mutters 'it must be that time of the month' and quickly finds out that this is NOT a smart thing to say to a woman who is justifiably very annoyed with you and HOLDING A LOADED ASSAULT RIFLE.
* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry
* OneSidedBattle: Applied liberally throughout the series.
* PrimalScene: Robin mentions in ''The Dead of the Night'' that this was the last time she saw her parents.
* TheQuisling: [[spoiler:Major Harvey]]
* SawedOffShotgun: The gun that Homer takes with him in ''The Dead of the Night'', after they've agreed not to carry weapons.
* ShootTheFueltank: Played straight and often.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:The final book, ''The Other Side Of Dawn'' ends with the enemy nation being allowed to keep a large portion of the land they have invaded, so while the survivors can move back to Wirrawee, they are now right on the border, and the whole group had effectively been fighting (and dying) for very little]].
* TheirFirstTime: [[spoiler:Ellie and Lee]] in ''The Dead of the Night''. They discuss it at length earlier in the book, and she tells him that she's not comfortable with it, but she changes her mind after some steamy foreplay.
** SleepingSingle: Even after they become sexually active, [[spoiler:Ellie]] 'likes her privacy too much' to ''sleep'' together. Of course, in this case, 'together' is difficult, as double beds are scarce in the bush.
* TheFilmOfTheBook
* TakingYouWithMe: The climax of ''The Third Day, The Frost''.
** PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: Ditto.
** Arguably a StupidSacrifice.
* ThereAreNoCoincidences: Robyn's belief that coincidences are "God's way of telling you to wake up".
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted; while obviously, there are no therapists available to them while they are out in the bush, when [[spoiler:they are airlifted to New Zealand]], one of the first things that happens is that each of them, independently, see therapists.
* TookALevelInBadass: All the main characters; they start out as fairly boringly-normal Australian rural teenagers, and end up as guerrillas with an international reputation...and some of the other side's most wanted enemies.
* TraintopBattle: In ''The Other Side Of Dawn''.
* TrilogyCreep: It was originally a tightly-written trilogy, ending with [[spoiler:the group being airlifted to New Zealand]] at the end of ''The Third Day, The Frost''.
* WarIsHell
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Averted. In the books Ellie frequently reflects on how the enemy soldiers she variously mows down or blows up or hits with big vehicles are people just like her, with hopes and dreams and families who'll miss them. In the film a short scene occurs where Ellie looks at a dying enemy soldier and sees the soldier is a teenage girl just like her.
* YouAlwaysHearTheBullet: Ellie reflects on this after [[spoiler:Corrie]] is shot in ''Tomorrow, When The War Began''.
* YouKnowTheOne: The name of the country that invaded Australia is never mentioned, for obvious pragmatic reasons. They are referred to as 'the enemy' or 'them' throughout. This becomes quite awkward as the characters have no in-story reason for dancing around the name, and are quite willing to name friendly countries such as New Zealand, the United States and Japan.
** John Marsden gave a ShrugOfGod explanation that he didn't know who the invading country was, and in any case, did not want to name them for fear of provoking a racist response from people who "knew they couldn't trust" that country.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Ellie and her group are considered terrorists, and convicted of it several times, by the enemy. And in some ways, like fighting out of uniform, not having a clear chain of command and targeting civilians, they do fit the bill quite well. Of course, [[YourMileageMayVary Australians see it differently...]]
----
!!''The Ellie Chronicles'' contains examples of:
* AdultsAreUseless
* AmoralAttorney: Mr Sale is the small-country-town version.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: The identity of the Scarlet Pimple.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Interesting variation. In ''While I Live'' a grieving Ellie goes through a litany of memories of her parents. It goes without a beat from the sound of her mother's laugh and the way her father fixed a truck to the texture of her mother's pubic hair and the shape of her father's penis.
* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Little Brother]]: Bronte's backstory.
* DemotedToExtra: Fiona appears only briefly in a couple of books, and Kevin is referred to as being in New Zealand but never appears in person. Justified in that one of the themes of the ''Ellie Chronicles'' is the way that life marches on and how things are different once the war is over.
* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Debatable; while Ellie is far from the best caretaker for Gavin, their unique circumstances are overlooked by the investigator, who criticizes Ellie for having a pile of dog doings on her lawn, and for having more soda than milk in her fridge.
* DrugsAreBad: They will get a bogged cow out of a dam though, apparently.
* EnfantTerrible: Gavin.
* FiveManBand
--> TheHero - Ellie
--> TheLancer - Homer
--> TheBigGuy - Gavin
--> TheSmartGuy - Jeremy / Lee (depending on the book)
--> TheChick - Jess
* GrowingUpSucks: Especially when you've just been orphaned.
* [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Adopted Little Brother]]: [[spoiler:Gavin]] is kidnapped in ''Circle of Flight''.
* LaResistance: Liberation in ''The Ellie Chronicles'', an covert-ops organisation involving civilians with the unspoken consent of the military, who carry out missions across the border. The Wirrawee faction is headed by the mysterious [[PunnyName Scarlet Pimple]].
* MamaBear: Ellie goes throuh hell to keep Gavin.
* ParentalAbandonment: Not voluntary.
* PoliceAreUseless
* RealEstateScam: In ''While I Live'' Ellie discovers a plot to force her to sell the farm so the land can be used to develop a holiday lodge for rich tourists.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Ellie is brutally orphaned in chapter one of the first book. Ellie suspects and the narrative strongly implies that the attack was intended specifically as a reprisal for her activities during the war.
----
