Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Tearaway Coach – Neridah McMullin/Andrew McLean

    Walker Books Australia April 2024 ISBN13:9781760653170 Australia RRP:$26.99 New Zealand RRP:$28.99 I’m certain that everyone has caught onto Neridah McMullin’s stunning historical picture books, but then again, there are always some who are late to the party. This is the latest, and is both a rousing adventure and a fascinating slice of history that will…

  • Night Ride into Danger – Jackie French

    Harper Collins Australia May 2021 ISBN: 9781460758939 ISBN 10: 1460758935 Imprint: HarperCollins AU RRP: $16.99 Again Jackie has crafted a narrative that combines fact and fiction to take readers back in time to colonial Australia where it was commonplace to meet diverse characters and perhaps even more commonplace not to know everything there is to know about those…

  • Not Your Usual Bushrangers – Peter Macinnis

    Five Mile Press ISBN: 9781760065690 Published: July 2015 Imprint: Echo Publishing RRP: $34.95 Many years ago my dad handed me a copy of Frank Clune’s ‘The Wild Colonial Boys’ saying “You should read this.” – a common occurrence as we shared both a literary taste and an interest in colonial history. From that moment I…