Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Guest Reviewer: Jessica Finden

    Introducing the lovely Jess, currently teacher-librarian (part-time) at Carmel College, Thornlands. Jess is definitely the glue that holds together the Bayside Secondary T-L Network and works hard always, organising meetings, and our regional Readers Cup competition. In tandem with her Head of English she has transformed the set novel program at Carmel with both flair…

  • The Unstoppable Flying Flanagan – Felice Arena

    Penguin Australia 29 March 2022 ISBN: 9781761044366 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $16.99 In a completely genius move, Felice Arena has combined his love of football (the AFL kind) and his skill with bringing lesser-known history to life. Set in Melbourne in the later years of WWII, this is the story of Maggie Flanagan who loves the game of football,…

  • Eyes that Speak to the Stars – Joanna Ho/Dung Ho

    Harper Collins Australia March 2022 ISBN: 9780063057753 ISBN 10: 0063057751 Imprint: HarperCollins US List Price: 24.99 AUD Last year, in my old library, we fell in love with Eyes That Kiss in the Corners and so did our kiddos, many of whom could make connections with the cultural heritage of the characters. This beautiful companion book will be equally…

  • Ming & Flo Fight for the Future: (The Girls Who Changed the World #1) – Jackie French

    Harper Collins March 2022 A brand new series from Jackie French is always cause for great excitement, and this one is going to be a corker, given this fabulous start! We have all been awed by Jackie’s wealth of historical novels and her indomitable female characters over the years. Now younger readers have the opportunity…

  • We Are Australians – Duncan Smith & Nicole Godwin/Jandamarra Cadd

    My review of this truly superb new picture book is now live at Kids Book Review – please do yourself a favour and check it out, then rush out and buy it. It is truly amazeballs!

  • Caroline Magerl – Sunshine Coast Superstar

    Truly I am so very lucky to be able to count Caroline (and her lovely husband) as friends. She is not just a hugely talented creator of children’s books but an incredible artist. On her recent trip to London and beyond, as part of the Illustrators Exhibition at Chris Beetles Gallery, she delighted all of…

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone 25th Anniversary edition – J. K. Rowling

    January 2022 Bloomsbury ISBN 9781408855652 RRP: $16.99 It seems hardly any time at all since I reflected on 20 years of HP and yet, here we are, at the start of a huge year of silver anniversary celebrations for what is, to my mind at least, the most successful fiction series of all time. Many…

  • Dear Greta – Yvette Poshoglian

    Penguin Australia March 2022 ISBN: 9781761043789 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $16.99 First of all, for their writing task, a collaborative project between library and classroom, Alice gets Greta Thunberg as her ‘significant person’ to whom she is meant to write fictional letters. Who wants to get a teen environmental activist to write to? Now a pop star, that would…

  • Hopping towards Easter (already!)

    It’s true that the start of this year has been fraught – not to put too fine a point on it. In my house: switch jobs on the last day of holidays, school is delayed by a week for The Kid, a week or so later The Kid is not well and after a couple…

  • The Little Wartime Library – Kate Thompson

    Hachette FEB 22, 2022 | 9781529395402 | RRP $32.99 So in essence, I should have known…I rarely request an adult title to review (and generally speaking, that’s a memoir/bio)… but the ‘library’ bit got me in. Really, I should have seen that, even though it’s based on real events, the sub-title was a give-away that it is more chick…