Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Piper at the Gates of Dusk – Patrick Ness

    Walker Books Australia April 2026 ISBN13:9781529537581 Australia RRP:$29.99 New Zealand RRP:$32.99 I have never made any secret of the fact that Chaos Walking is my favourite dystopian of all time. And, in fact, Patrick Ness, is definitely in my Top 10 favourite authors as well. So not only was I panting with anticipation waiting on…

  • April Wrap-up

    It was pretty busy and some really stand-out reads here!

  • Girls Like – Katrina Germein. Illustrated by Deb Hudson.

    New South Books Publisher: MidnightSun Publishing 9781922858726 April 2026 AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99 For anyone raising their own Mighty Girl or for those empowering all the mighty girls in a class or cohort this is hands-down a must-have for your shelf. It’s a simple rhythmic text that is almost a rap and just invites clap alongs or…

  • You can’t help but notice..

    Sometimes there is a slew of similar looking books, or titles, or even narratives or content. We all know there are trends in fashion, food, music, movies and even books – but it does sometimes seem that at times various authors, even across continents, simultaneously get the same thought. Other times it’s just seems to…

  • Write Now

    As it happens an assortment of books all geared to writing – for kids and for others, so do enjoy! The Story Writer’s Handbook – Katrina Nannestad. Illustrated by Cheryl Orsini. Harper Collins Australia September 2025 It was completely unintentional to leave this one so long but it sifted down between others and so was…

  • Gimme Some Space (Book #2 Marvellous Submarine) – Clayton Zane Comber & Conor McCammon

    Harper Collins Australia Imprint: Angus & Robertson February 2026 ISBN: 9781460766811 RRP: $17.99 Clayton and Conor continue with their new insanely bonkers series, this time blasting off into space in the retro-fitted submarine now doubling as a spaceship. Twins, Billy and Poppy, plus their assorted menagerie (using the term loosely) of helpers determine to track down…

  • The Dust Bowl, 1935: I Survived – Lauren Tarshis

    Scholastic Australia March 2026 ISBN: 9781761728662 RRP: $15.99 My introduction to the work of John Steinbeck was watching the movie adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath aged around 11/12 and thereafter, reading my father’s copy of the book plus all his other Steinbecks, including my all-time favourite book Of Mice and Men, also set in…

  • Don’t Let Them Leave – Mike Lucas

    Penguin Australia May 2026 Eeek! I read this halfway through on a sunny Sunday afternoon – thank goodness, because this is absolute superb, spooky, supernatural Gothic horror at its best. Drawing on Cornish folktales and superstitions and set around the 1930s, readers who love a truly suspenseful, twisty-turning creepy narrative will eat this up with…

  • One Day A True Story of Courage and Survival in the Holocaust – Michael Rosen

    Walker Books February 2025 ISBN13:9781529515985 Australia RRP:$27.99 New Zealand RRP:$29.99 Michael Rosen has long been one of the UK’s most acclaimed authors of children’s books. His range of genres is astonishing from the comic to the serious. And his most serious are those books that pertain to the Holocaust, a subject with which Michael has…

  • ANZAC Biscuits (a Commemorative Edition) – Phil Cummings. Owen Swan

    SCHOLASTIC AUSTRALIA March 2026 ISBN: 9781761725302 ISBN-10: 1761725300 Hard to believe it’s 13 years since this lovely book was first published and this is a welcome new edition to replace your original, particularly with this updated and very striking cover [love the touch of gold and the hardcover has the most delightful feel to it, almost like…