Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • A Little Spark – Barry Jonsberg

    Allen & Unwin August 2022 Imprint:A & U Children ISBN:9781760526924 RRP: $16.99 But, as can happen, life throws a curveball. Sam is offered a tantalising and life-changing work opportunity in the UK and Cate’s mum is determined they will all go. Cate is resistant to the whole idea, not least because she knows she will…

  • Ash Barty presents Little Ash…:Ash Barty with Jasmin McGaughey/Jade Goodwin

    Harper Collins July 2022 Little Ash Perfect Match! #1 ISBN : 9781460762769 ISBN 10: 1460762762 Imprint: HarperCollins AU List Price: 9.99 AUD Little Ash Friendship Fix-it! #2 ISBN: 9781460762776 ISBN 10: 1460762770 Imprint: HarperCollins AU List Price: 9.99 AUD Little Ash Tennis Rush! #3 ISBN: 9781460762783 ISBN 10: 1460762789 Imprint: HarperCollins AU List Price: 9.99 AUD Little Ash Goal Getter #4 ISBN: 9781460762790 ISBN 10: 1460762797 Imprint: HarperCollins AU List…

  • Seven Days- Fleur Ferris

    Penguin Australia May 2022 ISBN: 9781761043352 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $16.99 I really do love a good countdown action/adventure and Fleur Ferris has brought her masterful manipulation of tension into a fantastic new narrative for middle school readers. In similar fashion to her hugely successful and popular suspenseful stories for YA kiddos, this one follows a cracking pace from…

  • The Boy Who Hatched Monsters- T. C. Shelley

    Bloomsbury Publishing March 2022 ISBN 9781526600790 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $14.99 Sam, half monster/half fairy, has not only that secret to keep but many others. For example, there’s the one about his pack – the gargoyles who protect him, and the one about his school friends, the shape shifters who can change into dogs…

  • James Gong: the Chinese Dragon – Paul Collins

    Hybrid Publishers February 2022 ISBN: 9781925736793 RRP: $16.99 Your middle school kids will love this second instalment of James Gong (see James Gong: The Big Hit if you missed the first). Paul Collins has drawn on his experiences as a martial arts expert to bring another action-packed episode in the life of James Gong to…

  • The Break – Phillip Gwynne

    Penguin Australia September 2021 ISBN: 9780143789383 Imprint: Penguin RRP: $19.99 I have to say Phillip is soooooo very good at the fast-paced action/adventure genre and, all the while, making it entirely believable. It did take me a while to work through the pile to get to this one but I absolutely gobbled it up when I did. Anyone…

  • When the War Came Home – Lesley Parr

    Bloomsbury Australia March 2022 ISBN: 9781526621009 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing. Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $14.99 A year ago I reviewed my first Lesley Parr historical fiction and absolutely loved it – I book-talked it for weeks afterwards to my kiddos, many of whom also enjoyed it hugely. So I was most excited to receive this…

  • Take Me With You When You Go – David Levithan/Jennifer Niven

    My review of this terrific YA novel is now live on Kids Book Review. I highly recommend this to you – it’s fabulous read!

  • We Were Wolves – Jason Cockcroft

    Walker Books Australia June 2021 ISBN: 9781839130571Imprint: Andersen PressAustralian RRP: $26.99New Zealand RRP: $28.99 There are some seriously fabulous YA books coming out of the UK recently – and I’m not trying to take anything away from our local authors at all – it’s just that every single UK title I’ve read, probably in the…

  • The Travelling Bookshop #1: Mim and the Baffling Bully – Katrina Nannestad

    Harper Collins Australia July 2021 ISBN: 9781460713662 ISBN 10: 1460713664 Imprint: ABC Books List Price: 8.99 AUD I absolutely love this return to her whimsical, feel-good style from Katrina Nannestad, in this new and thoroughly delightful series. Although pitched at younger readers, I can absolutely see my older readers, who are keen fans of The Girl, the Dog, the…