Just So Stories

Penguin Australia

Septemer 2023

• ISBN: 9781761340581
• Imprint: Puffin
• RRP: $22.99

It’s time to stop saying yes all the time.
It’s time to stop apologising all the time.
It’s time to stop avoiding conflict all the time.
It’s time to be true to our emotions, whatever they are.

I’m starting this off with just this. Don’t delay. Order it now, put it on your list before your BM shuts down your budget for this year, because not only are you going to want it, but it is such an important and timely book that it should be in every school library or home.

Having raised three girls, and now raising another in lieu of her mother, I know how hard things are, still, for women and girls, in so many spheres. We’ve all seen the unforgiving judgements, the negative and unceasing media coverage, the trolling, the toxic behaviours and the hateful remarks bandied about as though it’s nothing. Not to mention the justifications when the perpretrators have been called out: toughen up, it was just a joke, we were just reporting, I was misinterpreted…and on.

We celebrate the achievements of the women who went before us – suffragettes, pioneers in male-dominated spheres of all kinds, philanthropists, trail-blazers, influencers, game-changers and leaders – and yet there are still those, and not just men – let’s be clear on that – who continue to tear females down. We know that we are a long way ahead of our forebears of even fifty years ago, but we still have so very much further to go.

What I particularly love about this volume is that while there are many names I know, and know something about, there are just as many with which I am not familiar. And I most definitely was not aware of some the lesser-known achievements or attributes of these remarkable women.

The 50 chosen subjects cover a wide range of professions, races, gender diversity and backgrounds. That being so, I believe this is a representation that will speak to many of your young women and girls. I know as soon as I read it, I handed it to The Kid and said ‘You need to read this. And then keep it handy. Everytime, you think you’re not good enough or strong enough or just plain old not enough, pick it up and it will help you remember that you are.‘

Everyone knows that the review books I keep are few and far between, but this is most definitely one that is staying on our shelves. Further to that, I will be strongly advocating for family, friends and colleagues to get their own copy for their girls.

A project driven and led by the Young Readers team at Penguin, this is an extraordinary book that shows a remarkable commitment to a publisher’s readership. I congratulate all involved for the writing, the illustrations, the artwork, format and styling. It is an absolute triumph. Brava!!

Let’s face it. We’re not living in a Utopia, this we know. Life, in general, is not getting easier for any of us – young or old, male or female, privileged or poor, white or person of colour – whatever and whoever, the 21st century is not for the faint-hearted.

As educators we owe it to our young people to help them prepare as much as possible – to develop their resilience, their strength, their positivity and their courage. Give this gift to your girls and young women, and actively encourage them to celebrate their own true selves.

My highest recommendation and my assertion that this is an absolute must-buy.