Just So Stories

Scholastic Australia

February 2024

ISBN: 9781761290473

ISBN-10: 1761290479

Series: Spy Academy

RRP: $17.99

Way back in 2005, I went to the ASLA Conference in Canberra. What a fun three days that was: made new friends, fancy-pants dinner at Parliament House, late-night escapade to the casino, my first visit to Jackie French, and listening to the hottest new author on the block –Jack Heath, the WunderKid.

This new book, first in a series, arrived yesterday (as of writing) and I binged it last night and this morning (it was an early get-up for The Kid – and when she left, what can I say – I went back to bed with a cuppa!). It was one adrenaline-charged roller-coaster ride all the way and absolutely fabulous fun!

Nolan Hawker is, in one way, your average teen boy, albeit clever, quick-thinking and creative. He and his mum have moved around a lot, and now find themselves in Coppins Crossing, in their small caravan. Nolan fits in at whichever schools he’s at, without investing too much energy or personal emotion into it.

When he intervenes in an apparent robbery at his school with spectacular success, he finds himself being recruited by a mysterious organisation called the Peak, and enrolled into their top-secret training academy (his mum thinks he’s been snapped up by a posh boarding school, after some outstanding test results, and she’s quite distracted having been offered a dream job – nice work, Peak!).

The academy is rigorous and ruthless. Everything about it is hardcore but Nolan is holding his own pretty well after the first few unsettling days, and gradually making some friends.

It soon becomes apparent that Peak’s anarchist arch-rivals, The Swarm, are not only targeting the organisation but have infiltrated the school. It takes ingenuity and sheer guts to thwart a cunning plan but Nolan, and his small coterie do so with verve and new-found skills.

Jam-packed with clever gadgetry, advanced scientific principles and innovations, a fantastic blend of disparate characters including, as you would expect, some very quirky teachers, twists-and-turns at every moment and non-stop action, this will not only keep readers full engaged but guessing rapidly to try and identify the interloper.

What a cracking read it is altogether! And with some bonus material in the back-matter – a code to break, an entrance exam to take – kiddos will eat it up. I look forward to the next in the series and folIowing Nolan’s progress. I highly recommend it for your readers from around 10 years upwards.