Just So Stories

Harper Collins Australia

July 2025

• ISBN: 9781460766057
• ISBN 10: 1460766059
• Imprint: HarperCollins AU
• RRP: $17.99

If there’s anything more exciting than new Jackie French historical fiction, it’s getting your hands on it before anyone else and writing teaching notes for it. In light of the 80th Anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing coming up (and ergo, the end of the War in the Pacific), Jackie French has crafted a wonderful narrative that will take readers back to the daily life for Australians, especially young ones, as well as insight into the conditions in the Japanese POW camps and that side of the conflict.

Kat Murphy has been sent to the country to stay with her aunt and uncle, as her pub-owner father is fearful of attacks on the city. She is feeling pretty much a fish out of water, especially at the particularly fussy and strict school she’s attending.

Local boy, 16-year-old Ossie, has signed up with a lie about his age but needs someone to care for his dog – his only family and only friend. Local woman, Mrs Plum, has taken in over two dozen dogs for service men in similar circumstances and feels she needs to refuse the boy.

Kat and some other girls from her school are volunteering at Mrs Plum’s ‘refuge’ for dogs and Kat is very pleased when one more dog, Ossie’s Lucky, is added to the pack. As the war drags on, Kat and Ossie are somehow connected in a kind of second sight way, via Lucky, who is definitely more intuitive than even the most superior dog.

When Ossie is captured, Kat knows he will be safe. She wills him to be so. And, via Lucky, she is kept apprised of that until the war is over. At the same time, Ossie is able to glimpse little vignettes of Kat back home.

Jackie has added much into this that will offer readers different perspectives on the war, in those final months and days. Certainly, I foresee many class debates on the right or wrong of the atomic bombs. My follow-up review will add to this debate and be a perfect companion text.

I always admire the way in which Jackie can unearth aspects of history of which we have been previously unaware, and, often, can turn thinking around because of that. This is very suitable for your older primary readers but absolutely spot on for your secondary students investigating World War II and especially the curriculum areas of Australia’s Engagement with Asia, History, Personal and Social Capabilities and, I believe, will build empathy and understanding.

Certainly, the aspect of the dogs and their owners will also win over many readers. It’s an undisputed 5 🐶🐕🐶🐕🐶 rating from me – of course!