Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Bad Nana #1: Older but Not Wiser – Sophy Henn

    Harper Collins ISBN: 9780008268053 ISBN 10: 0008268053 Imprint: HarperCollins – GB June 2018 RRP $17.99 Newly independent readers who love a giggle are bound to fall in love with Bad Nana and her granddaughter, Jeanie. Of course Bad Nana isn’t really bad – but she is cheeky and unconventional, most definitely mischievous, and certainly the type of granny…

  • Truly Tan #7: Baffled – Jen Storer. Illustrated by Claire Robertson

    Harper Collins ISBN: 9780733334139 ISBN-10: 073333413X Series: Truly Tan October 2018 Imprint: ABC Books RRP $16.99 Can I just say I truly love Tan? Yes sirree, I do! Since the first one I ever read I found this series very appealing and loads of fun. There is a real trend for detective/mystery/spy stories for younger readers but they don’t…

  • Bear in the Woods: Peski Kids #2 – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin 9780143788836 January 8, 2019 Puffin   $!6.99 R. A. Spratt has been entertaining readers hugely for some time now with Nanny Piggins and Friday Barnes and now with her new series The Peski Kids which is every bit as funny and quirky as her others. In this second instalment the Peskis are doing their…

  • Clementine Rose and the Bake-Off Dilemma [#14] – Jacqueline Harvey

    Penguin Random House 9780143780595 December 3, 2018 Random House Australia Children’s RRP: $14.99 Clemmie is back with not only a new adventure but also some new and exciting family news! Penberthy House is busier than ever now that Lady Clarissa and Drew are married, which means that Clemmie has a new step-brother in Will. Also…

  • Pippa’s Island #5: Puppy Pandemonium – Belinda Murrell

    Penguin Random House 9780143793267 December 3, 2018 Random House Australia Children’s   RRP: $14.99 The many young fans who have embraced this series with much enthusiasm will be delighted with the latest – and it’s just in time for Christmas too! It’s been almost a year since Pippa and her mum, Jenna, and brother and…

  • Just Breathe – Andrew Daddo

    Penguin Australia 9780143573623 July 30, 2018 RRP: $17.99 It must be hard to be so multi-talented *wry face*.  Andrew Daddo has certainly proven his ability as not only a media figure but a very able and engaging writer. I’ve not been enthralled in recent times by a lot of the YA coming my way –…

  • The Peski Kids #1: The Mystery of the Squashed Cockroach – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin Random House 9780143788812 July 30, 2018 Puffin   $16.99   There were many sad faces in my library when I reported that the Friday Barnes series had come to an end (including mine) but there was the consolation that R. A. Spratt was working on a new series. And here it is! And it’s…

  • The Girl Who Thought Her Mother was a Mermaid – Tania Unsworth

    Harper Collins Australia ISBN: 9781788547796 ISBN 10: 1788547799 Imprint: Head Of Zeus – Zehpyr – GB On Sale: 24/09/2018 RRP $14.99 This is a quite lovely blending of old selkie folklore, fairy tale and a young girl’s search for her own true self as well as her lost mother. Stella feels she is always the odd one out and…

  • Max Champion and the Great Race Car Robbery – Alexander McCall-Smith

    Bloomsbury Children’s 9781408886137 July 2018 RRP:  $19.99 Alexander McCall-Smith has long been a favoured writer for adults for me – in fact I’m listening to one of his audio books in the daily commute at present. I’ve bought several of the young Precious series for the library as so many of my Juniors just love…

  • Surf Riders Club 2: Bronte’s Big Sister Problem – Mary Van Reyk

    Hachette Australia FEB 27, 2018 | 9780734417923 | RRP $12.99   As I predicted the first in this series has been very popular in our library – after all we are in the beautiful Sunshine Coast and surfing is a prime pastime! So I have no doubt at all that this second in the series will be just as…