Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Song of a Thousand Seas – Zana Fraillon

    UQP September 2025 9780702266317 RRP: $14.99 I’ve made no secret of my admiration of and fascination with octopuses. Some will have read my review of A Journey Under the Water and also watched My Octopus Teacher, both of which increased my manifold interest in these amazing creatures. You may also have seen references to Octopolis,…

  • Hannah Backwards – Kim Rackham

    I think this is very possibly the first verse novel for younger readers I’ve come across to review, and I think it will be very popular with many of them. Much of the action in this narrative is eminently relatable to many kiddos. The worries that beset them, the losses they meet with, making mistakes…

  • The Foal in the Wire – Robbie Coburn

    Hachette Australia Imprint: Lothian Children’s books May 28, 2025 | 9780734423603 | RRP $19.99 Yes, I agree with you 100%. I have always said I’m not a fan of verse novels – but now, it seems I am. The slew of high standard verse novels over the past year especially has completely changed my thinking on this genre, I…

  • The Only Branch on the Family Tree – Sherryl Clark

    UQP April 2025 ISBN: 9780702268915 RRP: $14.99 With perfect timing, coinciding with this thread of my Mother’s Day reviews, Sherryl Clark’s beautiful new MG book arrived yesterday. At the same time, it has once again re-affirmed that I actually DO enjoy verse novels – certainly, those that have come my way in the past twelve…

  • Little Bones – Sandy Bigna

    UQP March 2025 9780702268878 RRPP: $16.99 I know I’m repeating myself, but I preface this again with the fact that I’ve never been a huge fan of verse novels. But I can tell you, we have some amazing creators who are changing my mind about that. This debut title from Sandy Bigna is hands-down one…

  • Where the Heart Should Be – Sarah Crossan

    Bloomsbury March 2024 ISBN 9781526666598 Imprint Bloomsbury YA RRP: $25.00 Carnegie Medal-winning, former Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan became one of my most favourite writers when I read my first of her titles, Toffee. That book made such an impression on me that I quickly sought out others and kept my eye out for them…