Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • On Gallant Wings – Helen Edwards

    Riveted Press April 2025 Distributed by Simon & Schuster ISBN13: 9781763526051 LIST PRICE: AU$ 17.99 / NZ$ 19.99 I can completely relate to author Helen Edward’s comment in her notes that she knew little about the Japanese attack on Darwin. I was certainly the same. Growing up in the late 50s/60s, I knew more about…

  • Blak ANZAC Day

    You are correct. I did say the blog was having a break until after ANZAC Day but when Big Sky Publishing sent me these which arrived today (16th) how could I not read and review them to mark ANZAC 2025. You might already have them or not but be well advised to do so, if…

  • The First Sunrise – Nessa Stevens. Paul Seder

    Magabala Books February 2025  9781922777553 | RRP $27.99 Hachette Australia I am always excited by First Nations books and I can’t think of a single one that hasn’t made me feel that way. But every now and then, one comes along that is really out of the box and this is one of those. There are a…

  • Tubowgule – a Sydney Opera House History – Melissa-Jane Fogarty. Illustrated by Dylan Finney.

    Hachette Australia Imprint: Lothian Books March 2025 9780734423351 | RRP $24.99 I’m old enough to have walked on Bennelong Point before the Opera House was built, and then walk around the construction site as the sails rose ever higher [not much WHS in those days, no fencing around the site!] picking up bits of broken white tile.…

  • Bold Ben Hall – Sophie Masson

    Walker Books March 2025 ISBN13:9781760658403 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 From the time I was a kid, I was fascinated with many of the stories of our bushrangers – lots of them recounted to me by my Father Bear. I think from memory it was in my tweens or maybe very early teens, when he…

  • Moonboy – Anna Ciddor

    Allen & Unwin March 2025 ISBN:9781761180743 Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $17.99 I love Anna Ciddor‘s historical time-slip adventures, and this newest one speaks to me even more because of personal connections. I was instantly transported back to First Form at St George Girls High School, and sitting with the rest of my cohort, squashed…

  • Goldfields Girl: the Clara Saunders Story – Elaine Forrestal

    Fremantle Press February 2025 ISBN: 9781760994969 RRP: $17.99 When Goldfields Girl was first published in 2020, I acquired it for our collection and then never got around to reading it. Now it’s been reissued with this [IMO] far more engaging cover [I think it just illustrates Clara’s jaunty and resilient personality more] and I’m very happy…

  • Soaring with the Sugarbird Lady: the Robin Miller Story – Dianne Wolfer

    Fremantle Press March 2025 ISBN: 978176099527 RRP: $17.99 My love of historical fiction knows no bounds as when I come across a hitherto unknown episode, particularly of the Australian + women variety. Dianne Wolfer has introduced me to a young woman who was an absolute stand-out – in Dianne’s own words ‘a trailblazer for women, winging…

  • A Good Kind of Trouble – Brooke Blurton and Melanie Saward

    Harper Collins Australia January 2024 This is another great novel coming from WA with fresh new voices and perspectives, and one of my most enjoyable reads of last year [I was reading the proof to write the teaching notes]. Jamie is a lively and intelligent girl who is very at ease with both her Aboriginality…

  • Picture Book Month Extra! : Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger – Jackie French

    Harper Collins Australia December 2024 Regular readers here know what a fan I am of Jackie’s work, particularly her historical fiction. She so deftly weaves fact and fiction creating a portal back in time for young readers to become bystanders and witnesses to some of the most significant events, especially in Australian history. And because…