"I'd have to say that when I finished school I didn't have much understanding of life," John Marsden admitted in an autobiographical essay in Something about the Author Autobiography Series (SAAS). Marsden, the well-known author of books about adolescents, spent many years after finishing school drifting from job to job and seeking his true vocation. Despite his disillusionment with school, he eventually became a teacher and gradually built his understanding of the language, morality, and character of his teenage students. This experience, coupled with Marsden's ability to craft the English language, has resulted in several well-received young adult novels.

John Marsden grew up in Australia. In SAAS, he debunked some of the myths of his native land: "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...