Just So Stories

Walker Books Australia

November 2023

Imprint:Walker Books

ISBN13: 9781529504026

Australia RRP:$16.99

New Zealand RRP:$18.99

Don’t think for one moment, that though this came out in November and I’m not reviewing it till now, that I put it off. In fact, I didn’t receive at the time of its release but only last week (as of writing this), and though I currently have 4 books on the go (anyone else book-cheat without compunction?), this one got bumped up to the top of the list and binge-read over two nights.

I have loved this series since the get-go. In fact, I have loved this author since my first reading of her work. The first book which introduced us to the original Moonlight Dreamers brought together a very disparate group of girls who, despite their differences bonded as a positive force for each other as well as those around them.

Now, this is the 2nd in the next generation of Moonlight Dreamers. We met Jazz in the previous book, Dreaming by Starlight, and now the group is fully formed and has become a really tight and supportive unit. But we all know that friendships, no matter how close and important, have ups and downs, and in this book, readers will come to understand that it is normal for friendships to ‘dip’ due to our own uncertainties, lack of understanding or mis-communication.

While Jazz finds herself almost obsessed with a boy, and then worried to a point of being unkind when she suspects Allegra of under-cutting her, in fact, Allegra is far more concerned in pursuing her passion for environmental activism. Portia is throwing all her literary hopes into the lap of an unscrupulous author, and Hope, struggling with the diagnosis of her heart condition, finds her OCD fast becoming a real concern.

The girls have lots to work through, but they do, with each one contributing her own part into the mix of solving the problems to hand. I have said before, that all the girls to whom I have book-talked this series have fallen in love with it, just as I did.

If you have new readers in your Year 7 cohort and coming into your book groups (as I did for my ChocLit kiddos) this is a fabulous series (and indeed, author) with which to kick off. Don’t hesitate! If you haven’t yet put this series on your shelves, now is the time to do so. I give it my highest recommendation to your readers from around 12 or 13 upwards, and certainly hope there are more forthcoming.