Just So Stories

Bloomsbury Australia

June 2024

ISBN	9781526655103
Imprint	Bloomsbury Children’s Books

I fell in love with Catherine Doyle’s writing with The Stormkeeper trilogy and when the ARC arrived for this – many months ago- I devoured it with just as much enthusiasm – and this review has been scheduled since then!! This is an author who can transform a narrative from words on a page to a movie in your thoughts time and again. Her combination of magic reality, adventure, emotional insights and always a touch of Irish mythology is breathtaking.

It may be hard to believe, but trust me, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean in a vicinity known as Darkseas, a crew of ferocious pirates roams. Their leader, Captain O’Malley, carries a dark secret.

Even darker is the menace facing the once peaceful Darkseas. Some awful monster, unseen and unknown, is literally eating the islands of this magical land, leaving nothing behind.

At one time, a boy named Christopher sent his letter in a bottle to reach Captain O’Malley, yearning to join the pirate crew sailing the Darkseas. But now, Christopher is terribly ill in hospital and his brother, Max, along with their parents, is holding out for a miracle.

When a red parrot with attitude lands on Max’ bedroom window late one night with a request from Captain O’Malley to join the pirate crew, help with their undertaking and secure a valuable reward, Max cannot refuse. This is the miracle he needs to save his brother.

And just like that he’s away… into a maelstrom of danger, duplicity and dark deeds. The most shocking revelation of all is that the monster was not a monster to begin with, although the secret of Captain O’Malley runs a very close second there.

Any reader will be eagerly gobbling up each page, to quickly turn and find out what happens next, hoping against hope that Max will be in time to find the cure for Christopher.

It is both moving and exciting… a wonderful blend of full-on fantastical happenings with a poignant story of family crisis. I would suggest that discerning and able middle-grade readers from around 10 years old will adore this.

I know well the ones who loved Stormkeeper at my recommendation, and those are the same readers who will value this. I give it a very enthusiastic 5 🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜 rating, with due deference to Squawk, a parrot with no equal.