Incurable

The Ellie Chronicles

By: John Marsden

Narrated by: Mikaela Martin

"I held my line. I knew from the war, if not from shooting rabbits, that we were safe enough for the first moments. It is too impossible to hit a target like us from a helicopter that's rocking and rolling and trying to find its target. But maybe this guy had new equipment or maybe he was a brilliant shot or maybe he was just plain lucky. Bullet holes tore through the ute like a huge metal punch was suddenly and roughly slamming a simultaneous line of them from our rear to our front."

Ellie has struggled to put the war behind her and lead a normal life. Although what's normal about your parents having been murdered; trying to run a farm and go to school; and bringing up a young boy who's hiding terrible secrets about his past?

©2005 Jomden Pty Ltd (P)2005 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.

Critic reviews

"Marsden has the rare skill of making his audience feel that they are part of the story and vicariously another character. Ellie speaks directly to them and in their language". (The Age)

Good story, poor reading

Would you try another book from John Marsden and/or Mikaela Martin?

I really liked the Tomorrow series by John Marsden and would try other books by him.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Each of the main characters (Homer, Ellie, Lee from the Tomorrow series) were a good representation of characters you find in high school that had to adapt to a new way of life after war. I liked his development of the conditions & situations that post war can put on people having to deal with new country boundaries & stresses. Sometimes his cattle descriptions are a bit long, but he broke it up with lots of action. I thought Gavin was a good representation of a war orphan with a lot of baggage rolled into one person. He added more dimension to the story.

Would you be willing to try another one of Mikaela Martin’s performances?

No. Her voice grates on me and she does't do other character voices well. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the characters. Her high pitched voice doesn't match Ellie well, especially after listening to Suzi Dougherty read the Tomorrow series.

Could you see Incurable being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes. Tomorrow When the War Began has been made into a movie and I liked it.

The book was great, the performance was not!

The book was great! I can’t wait for the next one. I will say that the change of narrator was not a good choice. Though Mikaela Martinay be a good narrator, she did not do Ellie any justice, nor any of the other characters. Ellie is a strong heroic teenager but in the narration of she sounder like a whining, scared wimp. And a nag. I would like to hear Susi Daugherty read it and the next!

The war is over, the battle has just begun.

What did you love best about Incurable?

The transition from farming to warfare.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Elle, because she has to save her friends and take care of her little brother who is still suffering from the terrible experiences of the war.

What does Mikaela Martin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has a lovely voice and accent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I broke it up over many long drives.

Any additional comments?

I love the story. The descriptions of the Australia Bush. The Idea that young people can fight and prevail.

new narrator

struggled to stay interested at times but once it took off was a good book. it was very hard to get used to a new narrator over the same narrator for the entire previous series and the previous book in this series but still an excellent book

I miss Ellie.

The new narrator did a great job, but she didn’t have the same depth as the previous narrator and I didn’t feel like the story was about the same Ellie. I gave up on trying to get used to her and just accepted that the Ellie I liked so much just wasn’t quite there. I really disliked her voice for Gavin. And for the love of god, somebody take that poor little boy to a hearing specialist and a therapist before he grows up to be a serial killer.