Chapters 17-22 Questions

1. What good news did Robyn, Kevin, Corrie & Chris have for the others on their return from town?

2. What did the soldiers mean when they referred to a ‘clean invasion’?

3. “Well, of course you’re the only one who feels that way,” Homer said. “The rest of us don’t know the word ‘fear’. Kevin can’t even spell it. We know no feelings. We’re androids, terminators, robocops. We’re on a mission from God. We’re Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.” What was Homer’s tone when he said this? What are androids, terminators, robocops? P240-241

4. Look closely at the scene where the group encounters the professional soldiers in the dark. How does Marsden’s writing create tension in the text?

5. How does this scene demonstrate ways in which the group has become more accustomed to the reality of war? In what ways have the characters changed?

6. How does Marsden create tension in the scene where Ellie and Fi are hiding in the garden?

7. “Now there was nothing to do but wait.” Why does Marsden end the chapter with this line?

8. What conclusion did Ellie come to about evil?

Chapters 14-16 Questions

1. What did Ellie discover in Chap 14? Why was it important to the group?

2. What did the documents that Ellie and Lee found, reveal about the Hermit?

3. Why did they put them back?

4. Ellie spends time thinking about the similarities between herself and the Hermit. What conclusions does she come to about morality and justice? P216-217

Chapters 12-13 Questions

1. “Gone where the bad people go. See you there!” What did the message on the fridge mean?

2. Why was Ellie confused about her feelings for Homer and Lee one moment then violently angry the next?

3. What did Ellie mean by “So I guess he had atoned.” Why did Chris need to atone?

4. Ellie describes herself as “being like some kind of insect half-emerged from a chrysalis” p164 What is the significance of Ellie’s breakdown? How do you think she will act in the second half of the book?

5. The group hears a report that a general form the invading country described the aim of the invasion as “reducing imbalances within the region.” What does this euphemism mean? [A euphemism is a mild/gentle/indirect  way of saying something eg ‘he passed away’ rather than ‘he died’]

6. What do you think it meant to the invaded Australians to be in that situation. Contrast this with how the invaders must have felt.

7. What long-term plans were  the  group beginning to make?

Chapters 8-11 Questions

1. How was Ellie affected by the events in Chap 7?

2. Summarise what happened to Fi and Homer on their trip to Wirawee to visit Fi’s house.

3. What is the Richter scale?

4. When does Ellie think she and her friends lost their innocence?

5. Re-read p110-111. What action did Homer suggest taking and why?

6. Why was it important that the group plan most carefully what they took with them back to Hell?

7. Why did the group move into the shearer’s quarters at Corrie’s place and why did this end up being the most important decision yet?

8. The bombing of Corrie’s house is symbolic of the way in which the group’s old world is being destroyed. Make a list of the words that Marsden uses in his description that show how menancing and destructive this act is.

9. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes today and we’ve paid a hell of a price.” P123 make  a list of the things the characters have done right so far and a list of the mistakes they’ve made.  Which list is longer? How do you think they are doing?

Chapters 5-7 Questions

1. How did the members of the group feel on the last night of their camping trip?

2. At the end of Chap 5 how does the author increase tension for the reader? How does he plant in our minds that something is terribly wrong? How successful do you think Marsden is in building up this tension?

3. “The dogs were dead.” P55 is a stark and shocking opening for this chapter. Make a list of the other shocking things the group finds at Ellie’s home and the words Marsden uses to describe those things.

4. Why did the group wait until dark to go to Kevin’s place?

5. What special information did they find at Corrie’s place?

6. Why did the group choose to travel on bikes?

7. Why was Homer’s suggestion that the group split up so unpopular? Why did he suggest this?

8. “We ran through the fruit trees...” re-read this paragraph. How and why is this section dominated by description of sound?

9. Describe the mower incident in your own words.

Chapter 2-4 Questions

1. List the items you would need to take on a five-day trip to the bush

2. What was so unusual about a bridge in the place where Robyn found it? What made the group decide that it was indeed the hermit’s bridge?


3. Marsden emphasises the isolation of the area in this chapter. List words that he uses to give this effect.


4. What did Ellie hear and see during the second night of the camping trip and what was so unusual about it?


5. Why was Ellie shocked & amused to hear that Homer liked Fi so much?


6. “I went for a walk back up the track...like a fool I’d kept reading it.” Re-read this passage. What did Ellie mean in this passage? What significance do you place on signs and labels like the ones Ellie talked about?

Chapter 1 Questions

Copy and paste these questions into a word doc to complete as you read the novel. 


1. Notice that Tomorrow, When the War Began begins in the present, and looks back into the past. What benefits could there be in choosing to structure a novel this way?


2. “There’s only one way to do this and that’s to tell it in order, chronological order.”
The above quotation is in the voice of the novel’s narrator. Who is the narrator, and why? What is chronological order?


3. “...it’s got to be our way of telling ourselves that we mean something, that we matter.” P2 Why has Ellie been given the task of writing the group’s history?


4. Sketch what you think Tailor’s stitch would have looked like. Surround it with quotes from the text.


5. “And yes, I’ve written that ‘o’ in ‘know’ carefully – I wouldn’t want it to be confused with an ‘e’” What did Ellie mean by this and why is it important?


6. Begin a list of notes on each character – a separate page for each. Make notes on each character on their page as you come across passages that describe them or where they do, or say, something significant.