Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

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

    Penguin Australia Published: 31 January 2023 ISBN: 9780143779247 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $16.99 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 –…

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

    Scholastic November 2021 ISBN: 9781338753356 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…

  • Lockwood & Co – Jonathan Stroud

    Penguin Australia 7 February 2023 ISBN: 9780241613122 Imprint: Penguin RRP: $18.99 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…

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

    Penguin Australia January 2023 ISBN: 9781761043338 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $12.99 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 –…

  • 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.

  • Happy 2023 and 10 years of Just So Stories

    Greetings one and all !! Why yes, I have been AWOL while it’s been the school holidays. After a pretty shitty year, and still many unresolved issues I needed some recharge time. I’ve done a LOAD of reading – just haven’t actually written the reviews but now it’s looking like it could be time to…

  • Meerkat Christmas – Aura Parker

    Penguin Australia October 2022 ISBN: 9780143777229 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $19.99 Seriously, I’m always so in awe of creators who can do both the text and the illustrations – for someone who yearns to have even a smidgin of creativity it seems a little unfair -haha! This is another title I shared with numerous classes over the closing weeks…

  • Christmas Goodies

    Zola and the Christmas Lights – Melina Marchetta/Deb Hudson Penguin Australia October 2022 ISBN: 9780143777649 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $19.99 For the entirety of the delightful What Zola did On… series, Melina Marchetta consistently delivered such beautiful and meaningful messages to young readers around diversity, community, empathy, friendship and family, all without once becoming preachy or tedious. It…

  • Peace on Earth, good will toward all

    Whatever, and however you celebrate I wish you all safe and happy holidays, from me and The Kid. Many thanks to all who follow and bother to read my reviews – which are haphazardly posted at best – and I’m thrilled to see that this year the blog has had well over 10 000 views!!!!…

  • The Heartstopper Yearbook – Alice Oseman

    Hachette OCT 13, 2022 | 9781444968392 | RRP $32.99 When I saw the little piece today that Netflix has announced that Heartstopper Season 2 has wrapped up, I just knew it was the day to share this one! The graphic series that started as a slow burn 2 years ago or soon, with many of us recommending i,t has…