LibGuides: Road to Winter: Home

Other Books by Mark Smith

Land of Fences by Mark Smith
ISBN: 9781925773583
Publication Date: 2019-09-10
Finn and Kas are surviving on the coast--more than surviving: they're enjoying the surf, the summer and being together. And now, the lights of Wentworth mean life could soon be back to normal. Finn is cautiously optimistic, but Kas knows she can never escape her status as a refugee, and that a return to slavery is a very real possibility. She's nervous. And it turns out she's right to be. When Kas is captured and taken inside the fences, Finn faces his greatest challenge yet. Taut and compelling--an exceptional conclusion to the Wilder Trilogy for teens, about resilience and self-reliance.
Wilder Country by Mark Smith
ISBN: 9781925498530
Publication Date: 2018-04-17
Finn, Kas and Willow have survived the winter. Storms have kept the Wilders away. Now that spring has come, they're being hunted again. Ramage wants their blood. But Finn and Kas made a promise to Rose--to find her baby and bring her back. And finding Hope means finding the dangerous Wilders. As the trio walk into the arms of danger its the girls who prove themselves to be brave, adaptable and tough. A worthy sequel to the author's Kirkus-starred debut.
If Not Us by Mark Smith
ISBN: 9781922330796
Publication Date: 2022-10-11
From the author of the bestselling ROAD TO WINTER trilogy comes an empowering standalone novel about courage and the consequences of taking climate action in a small coastal community. Hesse lives a small coastal town, where a coalmine and power station are a part of the scenery, and a part of the ever-growing problem of climate change. His mum is a member of a local environmental group campaigning to close the mine and shut down the power station. It's a no-brainer, of course, but Hesse is more interested in surfing--and in Fenna, the new exchange student from the Netherlands. But when someone seems to be trying to derail the campaign, and his friends' families face losing their jobs, Hesse begins to realise that things are complex. Even though he's reluctant to step into the spotlight, with Fenna's encouragement he decides it's time to make a stand. Because some things are too important to leave to everyone else. And even one small, nervous voice can make a difference. When Hesse agrees to speak at a protest meeting he has no idea of the storm he is about to unleash...

Mark Smith

Mark Smith lives on Victoria’s Surf Coast, where he runs an outdoor education campus for a large Melbourne boys’ school. His debut novel The Road To Winter (Text, 2016) was shortlisted for the Australian Indie Book Awards, the Aurealis Awards, The Readings YA Book Prize and the WA Young Readers’ Book Awards. It was been published in both the UK and US this year. The sequel, Wilder Country, will be released in August, 2017, and the third of the Winter trilogy, in late 2018. Mark is also an award winning writer of short fiction, with credits including the 2015 Josephine Ulrick Literature Prize and the 2013 Alan Marshall Short Story Prize, and his work has appeared in Best Australian Stories 2014 & 2015, Review of Australian Fiction, The Big Issue and The Australian.

n his YA fiction, Mark combines his love of the outdoors (surfing, mountain biking, travelling) with his experience as a teacher in a residential campus on Victoria’s west coast. He believes strongly in the resilience and adaptability of young people when they’re confronted with new and challenging situations.

Where were you born?

I was born at the Mercy Hospital in Melbourne where, due to him fathering nine kids, they eventually gave Dad his own car park.

What other jobs have you had?

Outside of teaching I’ve done a variety of things to earn a living: surf instructor, canoe instructor, Executive Officer in not-for-profit sector, paper boy, chicken sexer (in descending order of merit).

What themes are recurring in your work?

There are a few themes that recur in my writing, often when I don’t even mean them to: environmental issues, social justice (particularly indigenous and refugees), the resilience and loyalty of young people, relationships and love.

What have been the highlights of your career?

Signing a three book deal with Text Publishing after the manuscript for The Road To Winter was picked out of the slush pile and passed around the office. The resultant phone call changed my life.

Where have your works been published?

Both The Road To Winter and Wilder Country have been published in Australia, New Zealand, the US and UK.

What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about the environment, refugee issues, protecting our oceans, surfing, writing – and pretty much life in general.

Analysis and Criticism

Up Close: The Road to Winter
Good Reading Magazine July 2016

Meet Mark Smith
Children's Book Council of Australia
The Road to Winter
review from Reading Time
The Road to Winter
review by Dogeared Reviews

For teachers

Road to Winter teaching notes
from Text Publishing, mapped to the Australian curriculum
Welcome to Dystopia with Mark Smith

Dowsett, P., Rees, E. & Wharton, A. (2020). Beyond the Dark: Dystopian Texts in the Secondary English Classroom. Australian Association for the Teaching of English.

This publication is intended as a guide for English teachers as they develop learning sequences for their students that ask them to investigate worlds both imaginary and real. Using contemporary Australian, along with some classic dystopian fiction, it shares insights and provides practical strategies for teaching a broad range of dystopian texts in contemporary classrooms.
Includes Road to Winter in the chapters "Dark lands: setting as a generic feature of dystopian fiction" and "Nature and its elements: reading patterns in dystopian texts"

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