Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile: the junior novelization – Bernard Waber

    Harper Collins Australia September 2022 To be perfectly honest, until the trailers for the movie came out, I had never really heard of this series, although I think I’ve had at least one of the picture books (the original one?) in my collection at some point. Maybe because sometimes American children’s books are eclipsed, for Read more

  • Friday Barnes 11: Last Chance – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin Australia Oh Friday, you just get betterer and betterer! Readers will remember my anecdote of the dismay felt by my coterie of Friday fans, when the ‘last’ in the (original) series was announced, and was confirmed by my (then) recent conversation with Rachel over afternoon tea. Subsequently – and by then in a different Read more

  • Signs of Survival: a memoir of the Holocaust – Renee Hartman with Joshua M. Greene

    Scholastic November 2021 RRP: $28.25 I found out about this book via Mighty Girl about a week ago and was so pleased that not only had my local library acquired it very recently but that it was available. I read it last night in one sitting (just over 100 pages is all) and, trust me, Read more

  • Lockwood & Co – Jonathan Stroud

    Penguin Australia Ten years ago I reviewed The Screaming Staircase and wrote: This new series from Jonathan Stroud is the first since the Bartimaeus Sequence which sold over six million copies, and was translated in over 35 languages. The fact that Universal Studios has already picked up the film rights to Lockwood & Co. is Read more

  • Willa and Woof 3: Grandparents for Hire – Jacqueline Harvey

    Penguin Australia January 2023 It makes me very happy that my first review for 2023 is for my lovely friend, and über-talented creator, Jacqueline Harvey for #3 in her latest sensational series. Jacqueline has a sublime knack for creating character with whom readers can immediately connect, empathise and love, and Willa – along with her Read more

  • January Give-away!

    The run-away sensation for tweens and teens in 2022 – my first give-away is Heartstopper Yearbook – there will also be some little surprises. To enter – just send a comment and tell us your favourite character in the series !! Winner will be selected by random draw by my able assistant on 31st January. Read more

Archived Reviews