Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Six Weeks – Matt Goodfellow

    Hachette Australia Imprint: Starboard June 2026 9781444982886 RRP $16.99 It never ceases to amaze me when I happen to read two books within a week and they both have a similar central theme, in this case a young person’s grief. This is yet another verse novel that has continued to grow this genre as one…

  • Eighty-Nine Questions for After – Ashleigh Barton

    Hachette Australia July 2026 ISBN: 9780733654596 RRP: $16.99 I first knew Ashleigh’s work as a picture book creator, one who could create wonderful texts that not only engaged young readers but gave them portals into the larger world. Then along came her middle-grade novel How to Sail to Somewhere which so skilfully demonstrated that her…

  • The Stolen Bairn – Katrina Macdonald Roe

    Riveted Press Distributed by Simon & Schuster May 2026 ISBN13: 9781764256773 LIST PRICE: AU$ 17.99 / NZ$ 19.99 The gorgeous cover and enticing title bespeak the thoroughly engaging nature of this fantasy faerie tale from newcomer Katrina Macdonald Roe [Fun Fact: while the Macdonald clans, in their variations, are now scattered all over the world,…

  • Cleopatra: The Girl Who Would Be King (Heroes in the Ancient World, #1) – Jackie French

    Harper Collins AustraliaMay 2026 ISBN: 9781460766545 RRP: $16.99 A new book from Jackie French is always exciting. When it heralds a new series even more so. And to top it off, I was able to read it and write notes for it, which was so cool especially as, some months ago, Jackie and I had some…

  • The Wild Unknown – Emily Gale

    Text Publishing April 2026 ISBN: 9781923058835 AU Price$16.99 NZ Price$21.00 In 2045 life is familiar but also not. If we think technology and AI is pervasive now, in the near-future that Emily Gale has conceived it’s inescapable, compulsory and deeply rooted within society. Eddie’s world is one filled with ‘smart’ technology from the smart windows…

  • Lexie Moon & the Remote Control Disaster – Melissa Garside and Lauren Mullinder

    Riveted Press Distributed by Simon & Schuster June 2026 ISBN13: 9781764256766 LIST PRICE: AU$ 12.99 / NZ$ 14.99 Hooray for #3 in the Lexie Moon series with this young inventor extraordinaire. In this new adventure, Lexie is constructing a ‘sauce bottle’ remote control car for an upcoming competition but is really having difficulties. Finding the…

  • The Midlands – Kate Gordon

    Kate Gordon has certainly forged a following since her first foray into publication. Some of her titles I have reviewed, others I have read but not reviewed but I definitely know which ones have received the positives and enthusiasms. I particularly enjoyed Whalesong. There is a lot to like about this newest one as well.…

  • The Clueless Guide to Solving a Mystery: Clueless #1 – Samera Kamaleddine. Illustrations by Hykie Breeze.

    Harper Collins Australia May 2026 ISBN: 9781460767443 RRP: $17.99 MG readers will thoroughly enjoy meeting Claudia as she has an extended stay with her grandparents in their retirement village. The residents make for hilarious friends with their various quirks but it is when ‘the cousins’, Yasmin and Zayn, come to visit their own grandmother that her…

  • A Great Piratical Rumbustification

    Ok yes, we do know that pirates have been romanticised over the years and we also know that there are pirates in the modern world, including the ones in office politically but there is absolutely no denying that fictional pirates still hold a real fascination for readers both young and old. As it happens, three…

  • Wombat Waiting – Katherine Applegate

    Harper Collins Australia Imprint: Harper Collins UK May 2026 ISBN: 9780008814144 RRP: $17.99 I’ve been following this book’s journey via Katherine’s socials with great interest, knowing full well that it would be another of her totally captivating and heart-warming animal-centric narratives. And that it is. Wombat is a street dog and always has been. She’s…