Just So Stories

Pan Macmillan

July 2024

ISBN: 9781760984977

RRP: $26.99

It took me a while to get to this one on the review shelf, but when I did, it didn’t take me long to read it – I chomped it up over 3 nights and loved every vibrant word of it. Then of course it was Picture Book Month and Xmas Countdown, so I decided to save the review to start off the new year of posts.

After all, this could be just the book you’re looking for to engage your YA readers, many of whom will know Steph Tisdell‘s name from her comedy performances. It’s a brilliant debut, and I think we can expect more from this deadly new author who has plenty to say about issues impacting First Nations youth (in particular), and delivers it with punchy humour that readers will lap up.

17-year-old Layla is in her final year of school, and she’s always been a focused student with big goals to get into university and do some good in the world. But things start to unravel at the edges, especially when her younger cousin Marley moves in with the family.

Layla is used to being the only First Nations student in her very middle-class school, but up until now she’s not really noticed how marginalised she (and her culture) is, how under-represented in a skewed and biassed curriculum, and how patronised by both teachers and some students. Marley’s had a tough life up to this point, and not necessarily atypical for a lot of young teens – both First Nations and non-Indigenous.

Layla starts to seek some different ways to navigate her life. New friends, especially one particular boy, new attitude towards her aspirations. Her goalposts have somehow shifted. A new understanding of the long-term effects of colonisation on her people. How her parents have chosen their paths. How she can make choices as well, while at the same time making plenty of mis-steps. It’s funny and feisty. It’s poignant and pertinent.

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, at a time when the division, and hate, and bigotry has become more obvious in many sectors of our society – when even those with high-flying leadership aspirations are seeking to disrupt and increase the distance between cultures, this is exactly the sort of book we need to be putting into the hands of our teens who will soon be old enough to vote, and certainly old enough to make their voices heard.

I heartily congratulate Steph on this fine debut novel and I have absolutely no hesitation in giving this a 5 ❤️❤️🟡🖤🖤 rating. There are some big issues to contemplate and upon which to really reflect, but there were so many LOL moments, especially things that would resonate in our family – like Keens Curry 😄! It would make for a great novel choice for your seniors or for your book clubs, especially as there are some notes to go with it. Hear what Steph has to say about the book. Also check out her website for details about her school incursion workshops – using comedy to empower.