Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Living on Stolen Land – Ambelin Kwaymullina

    Magabala Books July 2020 ISBN 9781925936247 RRP: $22.99 In any other year we would be in the midst of NAIDOC celebrations but this has been no ordinary year for any of us. And given the global swell of awareness around the circumstances, past and present, of people of colour this is a most timely and…

  • The Unadoptables

    Hana Tooke Penguin Australia July 2020 ISBN: 9780241453612 Imprint: Puffin RRP $16.99 There is something about stories set in Holland that I find particularly appealing. Perhaps it is just the vicarious sight-seeing but for some reason they are always engaging and often quirky. This one is no exception. Combining adventure and mystery, family life, loyalty and very…

  • Happy Birthday Tashi!

    Allen & Unwin July 2020 The very fact that over the past twenty-five years Tashi books have sold well over a million copies is testament to the love that so many have for this very special boy. While magic and fun abound the Tashi stories also have a lot for children to absorb and learn…

  • Family – Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson. Illustrated by Jasmine Seymour

    Magabala Books July 2020 ISBN 9781925936285 RRP: $24.99 This is the second in the beautiful and enlightening Our Place series and continues the sharing of cultural identity and perspective in a way that is easily accessible by even the youngest of readers. This relatively simple story accompanied by its stunning illustrations eloquently defines the meaning…

  • The Mummy Smugglers of Crumblin Castle – Pamela Rushby

    Walker Books Australia July 2020 Illustrated by Nelle May Pierce ISBN: 9781760651930Imprint: Walker Books AustraliaAustralian RRP: $17.99New Zealand RRP: $19.99 When I mentioned that I was reading this Pamela Rushby commented that she had written the sort of book she would have liked to read when she was eleven. She’s also written the sort of book that I would…

  • Good Dog – Kate Leaver

    Harper Collins Australia April 2020 ISBN: 9781460758892 ISBN 10: 1460758897 RRP: 29.99 AUD Well, no….it’s not the usual type of book I review and to be honest I’m more of a cat person than a dog one (though it’s not that I dislike dogs or anything!) but this is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading simply because…

  • The Key to Finding Jack – Ewa Jozefkowicz

    Harper Collins Australia May 2020 ISBN: 9781800240421 ISBN 10: 1800240422 Imprint: Head Of Zeus – Zehpyr – GB $14.99 Perfect for your middle primary to lower secondary kiddos this new adventure/mystery is just a great read with lots of excitement but also loads of great messages about the importance of connections with family and friends, self-belief, empathy and…

  • Anisha, Accidental Detective #1 – Serena Patel

    Harper Collins Australia June 2020 ISBN: 9781474959520 ISBN 10: 1474959520 Imprint: Usborne – GB List Price: 12.99 AUD Serena Patel wants to do more than entertain with her stories. She is determined to offer her readers insight into the experience of being ‘different’ and in her case that means growing up as a culturally different child in her school…

  • The Last Paper Crane – Kerry Drewery

    Allen & Unwin July 2020 ISBN: 9781471408472 Publisher: Bonnier Imprint: Hotkey RRP $16.99 Much has been written in the past 75 years about the horrific devastation that was the bombing of Hiroshima (and Nagasaki). It is an event the pain and suffering of which still resonates in modern times and with hindsight, even some of…

  • League of Llamas [#3 and #4] – Aleesah Darlison

    Penguin Random House Australia July 2020 Aleesah Darlison continues her hilarious new series with these two new episodes in the adventures of Phillipe, Lloyd and Elloise, those daring LOL agents who are afraid of nothing – well almost nothing. Kids love the antics of rather hapless Philippe and Lloyd who are generally getting themselves into…