Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • 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…

  • Judy Blume: a Life – Mark Oppenheimer

    Scribe Publications March 2026 ISBN: 9781761380686 RRP: AUD$39.99 It’s a brilliant biography of one of the most notable, enduring, revered and ground-breaking writers, particularly of kid and teen fiction, and, as you might expect, quite a behemoth to cover the almost 90 years of Judy Blume’s life. It took me almost a week of night…

  • Last Rites: Never-before-told stories of a legendary life from the rock ‘n’ roll hellraiser – Ozzy Osbourne.

    Hachette Imprint: Sphere Oct 7, 2025 | 9781408724064 | RRP $34.99 Of course, he’s not really Halloween at all, but for someone known as The Prince of Darkness and famed for his outrageousness, wildness and powerful lyrics, it seems appropriate to put this review into this week’s collection. I’m saying it openly. I’m not a metal fan – never…

  • Krstel Kicks to Win: Kimberley Kickers #2 – Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler. Illustrated by Samantha Campbell

    Harper Collins Australia July 2025 Last year I had the pleasure of not just reviewing the first in this series – Jy Goes for Gold – but also writing teaching notes for it. Back then I predicted that this would prove a real winner with the kiddos and that’s true enough. Don’t think for one…

  • Great Writers & the Cats who Owned Them – Susannah Fullerton

    New South Books Bodleian Library October 2025 9781851246540 AUD$34.99, NZD$39.99 Oh yes, when you pick up a book that is beautifully bound and feels like a gift in your hands (even with a marker ribbon!) you can pretty much guarantee that you are going to love the contents. After all, it is already screaming quality.…

  • The Legend of Jessie Hickman – Mark Greenwood/Frané Lessac

    NLA 9781922507853/1 October 2025/AUD$24.99, NZD$29.99 If you believe in legends … I would venture to say that not many people know about Jessie Hickman. In fact, despite my long interest in Australian bushrangers, I probably wouldn’t either except for the fact of having spent a reasonable amount of time in the proximity of Jessie’s one-time…

  • Powerful like a Dragon – Christopher Cheng. Illustrated by Jacqueline Tam

    Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group April 2025 ISBN: 978-1-250-82939-9 | Price: $18.99 US / $24.99 CAN Pan Macmillan Australia ISBN: 9781250829399 Format: Hardback Pub Date: 29/07/2025 Firstly, I want to thank Christopher for asking me if I would like to review this amazing book, about which he and I first had some conversation around this time last year. Secondly,…

  • The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück: Lynne Olsen

    How an intrepid band of Frenchwomen resisted the Nazis in Hitler’s all-female concentration camp Scribe Publications July 2025 ISBN (13):9781761381461 RRP:$36.99 My confession here is that I’ve had this for ages, well and truly long before its release date, and it’s been on my bedside table as I dip in and out of it, book-cheating…

  • A Different Kind of Power: a memoir – Jacinda Ardern

    Penguin Australia First up, I’m going to say a big thank you to Penguin, especially the indefatigable Dot Tonkin, for giving me the opportunity to read and review this. As someone who admired this young woman as a trailblazer, it has been interesting to see her in close-up, so to speak. I think for many…

  • Mabo Day

    Bringing this year’s Reconciliation Week to a close with the reminder that today is Mabo Day. Eddie Mabo, the man behind Mabo Day Overturning terra nullius Eddie Koiki Mabo