Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Childish – Morris Gleitzman

    Penguin Australia September 2025 Last year I talked up Tweet to anybody who would stand still long enough to listen. I still maintain it was one of my Top 5 MG novels for the year, and, certainly, one of Morris’ very best. Then – lo and behold! – along comes Childish and it’s another absolutely…

  • Because it’s Book Week…

    There are not so many days I miss being full-time in my libraries but, yes, Book Week with the insane preparations and the fun of dressing up [at one of my schools a different costume every day of the week!] has been one in the last couple of years. But honestly, this year I’ve been…

  • Ghostlines – Katya Balen

    Bloomsbury Publishing January 2025 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Publishing ISBN 9781526663870 RRP: $16.99 Since the first Katya Balen title that came into my hands in 2019, I have loved this writer’s work. Obviously given her 2022 Carnegie Medal, I’m not the only one. Each time her characters are flawlessly executed, with plots that are fresh and…

  • Summer of Shipwrecks – Shivaun Plozza

    UQP September 2024 ISBN 9780702268373 RRP: $16.99 2024 was, as I’ve said many times, a year for splendid Australian middle-grade novels and this, the latest from Shivaun Plozza is a prime example. That transition between end of primary/start of secondary is a difficult time for many tweens. It’s often a time when long-held friendships unravel…

  • Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra – Cassy Polimeni. Illustrated by Hykie Breeze

    UWA Publishing July 2024 ISBN: 9781760802899 RRP: $15.99 I had to wait a while to get my hands on this one but it was definitely worth the wait. This is the first in a four book series by relative newcomer Cassy Polimeni and it is a super start indeed. Ella, and her family, has just…

  • Real Me. Real You? – Glenn Manton

    Glenn Manton May 2020 RRP: $17.99 Glenn Manton is not afraid to tackle big questions for young people and in the past twenty years he has done so as a well-known speaker. Those of us in secondary schools, in particular, have observed first-hand the confusion and misinformation that many of our students hold and in…

  • Morphing Murphy – Robert Favretto/Tull Suwannakit

    Ford St Publishing February 2020 ISBN 9781925804324 RRP: $16.99 Whether you’re looking for a twisted fairy tale, a fictional take on the metamorphosis of frogs or perhaps simply a story that illustrates changes and adaptation, this will be a fabulous addition to your collection. Murphy doesn’t quite understand the changes that are happening to him…

  • Finch – Penny Matthews

    Walker Books ISBN: 9781760650759 Release Date: August 1, 2018 Australian RRP: $16.99 Even in holiday mode it’s a big ask for me to read a book in one sitting but this one is a corker! At once a coming-of-age story and a beautiful reflection on accepting differences its country setting along with an environmental theme provides a strong…