Australian author John Marsden, "whose young adult novels were read and beloved across the world," died December 18, ABC News reported. He was 74. Marsden wrote more than 40 books across multiple genres, including the seven-book Tomorrow series, which sold millions of copies and was adapted for film and TV.
He also won several major awards for children's and adult fiction. In 2006, he received the Lloyd O'Neil Award for contributions to Australian publishing. His historical novel South of Darkness won the Christina Stead Award for best novel in 2015.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese posted on social media that Marsden "wanted young Australians to read more and his writing made that happen.... Vivid, funny, quintessentially Australian, he wrote with a real love for our land and a true sense of our people's character. John's work will live long in our national memory."
Marsden's 1993 novel Tomorrow, When the War Began made him one of the country's most renowned YA novelists, and his popularity spread to the U.S., where the book was featured on the American Library Association's "Best Books for Young Adults" list in 1996. In 2000, the ALA ranked it 41st on a list of "100 Best Books for Teens" published between 1966 and 2000.
Australian author Alison Lester said Marsden had left an "enormous" legacy through the series: "He would've got so many kids reading who would never have read otherwise, I think. Here was a whole world that they could believe in.... Those books, they looked like they were going to change the world, they were such a force. The kids [in the books] were so powerful.... I think that was the most amazing thing."
The Guardian Australia reported that Alice Miller School, one of two schools that Marsden founded in Victoria, confirmed his death in a letter to parents, noting: "He died at his desk in his home, doing what he loved, writing."
Pan Macmillan Australia, his publisher, said, "John Marsden profoundly impacted the world of literature, particularly with his enthralling young adult novels such as the Tomorrow series, which we have previously described as 'the best series for Australian teens of all time.' His ability to encapsulate the essence of youth struggles and aspirations in his works has left an indelible mark on readers worldwide."