Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe



  • Reminder:February Give-Away!

    Don’t forget that Joanna Ho’s new YA novel The Silence that Binds Us is this month’s give-away! Just leave a comment on the review to be in the running.{Australia readers only, sorry} Read more

  • A Walk in the Dark – Jane Godwin

    Hachette August 2022 ISBN 9780734420770 RRP $14.99 Jane Godwin has created another intense narrative for teen readers which really encapsulates how different a ‘coming-of-age’ might be for disparate individuals. The teenagers at the Otway Community School, which is not your regular school, are used to doing things differently but the ‘dropping’ is a new experience Read more

  • The Lorikeet Tree – Paul Jennings

    Allen & Unwin January 2023 ISBN:9781761180095 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children The Master returns, proving yet again that he can still enthral readers of all ages with the most marvellous narratives. It would seem that being almost an octogenarian is no bar whatsoever to remaining a writer as brilliant as the titular birds in Read more

  • The Marvellous Mirza Girls – Sheba Karim

    Harper Collins Australia March 2023 I have to say I really enjoyed this and read it over several nights last week but I’m also going to say upfront that despite the publisher’s suggested age rating of 13 years upwards DO NOT even think about it being available to anyone below your seniors – IMO. There Read more

  • Easy Peasy – Ky Garvey/Amy Calautti

    EK Books February 2023 ISBN 9781922539441  $24.99 I think we’ve all been in the same mind set as Ruby at one time or another – and if we haven’t been ourselves, then we certainly have encountered the child who was! We can often think we have all we need, whether skills or knowledge, at our Read more

  • Tulips for Breakfast – Catherine Bauer

    Ford St Publishing October 2022 ISBN 9781922696199 RRP: $19.99 As always, I am grateful to have the opportunity to review a book that provides young people with a perspective of one the darkest times in human history, particularly in order to endeavour that such atrocities will never be repeated. In this novel’s dedication Catherine Bauer Read more