Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Ginger Meggs – Tristan Bancks and Jason Chatfield

    Penguin Australia May 2021 ISBN: 9781760894818 Imprint: Puffin Format: Hardback Pages: 192 RRP: $24.99 When I was a kid, growing up in Sydney, my favourite part of the weekend was reading the Sunday comics. I started about four years old, when my Dad opened his Telegraph, and handed me the colourful insert and I was pretty much still reading them…

  • The StrangeWorlds Travel Agency : The Edge of the Ocean Book #2 – L. D. Lapinski

    Hachette Australia APR 13, 2021 | 9781510105959 | RRP $16.99 Now that Flick is officially a member of the StrangeWorlds Travel Agency, and with one exciting adventure already under her belt, in which she demonstrated some unexpected and remarkable powers, she and Jonathan Mercator are summoned to help another world. This time they are joined by Jonathan’s distant cousin,…

  • The Storm Keepers’ Battle: Storm Keeper Trilogy 3 – Catherine Doyle

    Bloomsbury Australia March 2021 ISBN: 9781526607966 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $14.99 I have loved this series from the very start! The premise is so fresh and different, and full of so many wonderful themes, characters and fabulous magic. Fionn and the Arranmore islanders are under siege from the evil Morrigan, her heinous brothers and…

  • A Case of Grave Danger: The Violet Veil Mysteries #1 – Sophie Cleverly

    Harper Collins Australia Published: 3rd February 2021Publisher: HarperCollins PublishersCountry of Publication: GB ISBN: 9780008297350ISBN-10: 0008297355 RRP: $16.99 Sophie Cleverly’s Scarlet and Ivy series is one of the most popular in my library, particularly with our Year 7 and 8 girls and they are already madly excited to hear about this new series, and counting down until they can pounce on…

  • 100 Things To Know About Saving the Planet

    You can read my review of this great book at Kids Book Review now – enjoy!

  • Searching for Charlotte: The Fascinating Story of Australia’s First Children’s Author/s-Kate Forsyth, Belinda Murrell

    Paperback | Nov 2020 | National Library of Australia | 9780642279699 AUD$34.95, NZD$39.99 I had hoped to review this when it was released – sadly, the publicists did not get the memo and I missed out. But it was always going to find its place in our collection given both its subject matter and the…

  • Tiger Daughter – Rebecca Lim

    Allen & Unwin February 2021 ISBN: 9781760877644 Imprint: A & U Children Rebecca Lim has created a powerful and highly engaging #OwnVoices novel that captures the circumstances for some children, growing up Asian in Australia. Wen Zhou is the only child of Chinese immigrants who came to Australia for a better life, only to find…

  • Tell Me Why for Young Adults – Archie Roach

    Simon & Schuster Australia (March 3, 2021) ISBN13: 9781760858865 I can say unreservedly that this is one of the most powerful memoirs I have read in recent years and for young adults this is a book worth promoting heavily. Archie’s life story is at times harrowing and confronting but also uplifting and inspirational. Taken away…

  • Took the Children Away – Archie Roach/Ruby Hunter

    Simon & Schuster Australia October 2020 ISBN13: 9781760857219 RRP: $24.99 What a privilege to be asked to provide a review for this fabulous 30th anniversary edition of Archie’s book. This great man, 2020 Victorian Australian of the Year, member of the Order of Australia and recipient of countless other awards for his music, is one…

  • The Thing that goes Ping! – Mark Carthew. Illustrated by Shane McG

    Ford St Publishing February 2021 ISBN: 9781925804669 RRP: $16.95 If you are looking for a really great rhyming book for your littlies that will also engage them in a guessing game, this is going to be a real hit!! In the faraway town of Figgy-tra-ling, you may hear the faint ring of a thing that…