Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Picture Book Month Extra!!! The Hunger Games [Illustrated edition] – Suzanne Collins. Illustrated by Nico Delort.

    Scholastic Australia October 2024 Imprint; Scholastic Inc. 9781761640995 $49.99 Would you ever have thought The Hunger Games could get even better? This illustrated version is just sensational! This is quite the hefty volume – almost A4 in size – and dense but so beautifully presented and the monochromatic illustrations by Nic Delort bring a whole…

  • If I Have to be Haunted – Miranda Sun

    Harper Collins Australia October 2021 Can’t let the little ones have all the fun for Halloween! This is a debut YA novel for which I recently wrote teaching notes**** and it was a really good mash-up of family, ghosts/horror, quest and rom-com. Cara is a serious student, trying her best to excel – in classes,…

  • Fallout – Lesley Parr

    Bloomsbury Australia October 2024 ISBN 9781526648013 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $15.99 I have been a fan of Lesley Parr’s writing since the very first I reviewed, and this new one is another fabulous read. I ate it up over this past weekend, thoroughly immersed in Marcus’ troubled life in his Welsh valley in the…

  • Salt Runs Through – Mark Rafidi

    Hawkeye Books October 2024 ISBN: 9781923105218 ISBN-10: 1923105213 RRP: $26.99 I was so keen to review this, so thank you Hawkeye, and what a fabulous read it is! Set in Ulladulla, one of my favouritest places in the world [was always my dream retirement plan] at the time of the Currowan bushfire, such a dark time back…

  • 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…

  • Aisle Nine – Ian X. Cho

    Harper Collins Australia September 2024 Your fans of Stranger Things, Good Omens and Wednesday, any horror x comedy x side-serve of romance, are absolutely going to love this one. When I was asked to write the teaching notes I was not quite sure after reading the summary but honestly, reading it was a whole lot…

  • One by One They Disappear – Mike Lucas

    Penguin Australia May 2024 Honestly, before you put this on your shelves for your kiddos, you need to read it first. Because once they get their hands on it and the word spreads, you will never get a look in! I was hooked from the very start and this is a whole package; supernatural, folktales,…

  • Eleanor Jones Can[‘t] Keep a Secret – Amy Doak

    Penguin Australia I absolutely adored the first Eleanor Jones book and as soon as this one arrived a few days ago, everything else got pushed aside while I binge-read it (which effectively means I’m now book-cheating on 3 different books 😳). I regret nothing! This is every bit as fabulous as the earlier book. It’s…

  • Catch Your Breath – Ravena Guron

    Harper Collins Australia March 2024 I really do love me a good cozy murder mystery, going right back to when I had almost every single Agatha Christie title, so I’m absolutely relishing this trend in YA fiction. This is the second of this author’s books I’ve read [see This Book Kills] and it’s even twistier…

  • The Unexpected Mess of it All- Gabrielle Tozer

    Harper Collins Australia May 2024 Oh yes, a rom-com that will have your young readers absolutely in paroxyms of delight! This was just so engaging from the very first page, and I loved every word, character and certainly, the outcome. Jamila Dakhoul feels her life is in a complete mess. Since her family home (and…