Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The 1, 000-Year-Old Boy – Ross Welford

    Harper Collins Australia January 2018 ISBN 10: 0008256942 Imprint: HarperCollins – GB ISBN: 9780008256944 Pages: 400 List Price: 14.99 AUD   Alfie Monk is not your average eleven year old boy. He is ‘proficient in Old Norse, Old English, Middle English and Modern English, plus French, Latin and Greek (ancient and modern, though they are not so dissimilar), and [has]…

  • Piglettes – Clementine Beauvais

    Penguin Random House Imprint: Pushkin Press ISBN 9781782691204 August 2017 RRP $16.99 This superb YA novel deals with some pretty gritty issues like bullying (cyber and real life), self image, identity and family relationships and is one of the most wickedly funny books you’ll read all year. Mireille, Astrid and Hakima are three girls at…

  • Ava’s Big Move – Surf Riders Club #1 – Mary Van Reyk

      Hachette Children’s Books Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books September 2017 9780734417909 RRP $12.99 First in a new series designed to encourage more girls into the sport of surfing this kicks off in a very promising manner. Ava’s parents have decided on a sea change which means that Ava is leaving behind her big city life,…

  • The Build-Up Season – Megan Jacobson

    Penguin Random House 9780143573388 July 31, 2017 Penguin (AU YR)   RRP $19.99 What a fantastic and gripping read this is! This one had to be read over two nights but it was a wrench to leave it halfway! Ily (Iliad) Piper is a young woman who has had to face many emotional upheavals in…

  • Paper Cranes Don’t Fly – Peter Vu

    Ford St August 2017 ISBN 9781925272765 RRP $19.95 Exquisitely poignant and so beautifully written this is a young adult book which will touch the hearts of every reader. There have been other books that look at the lives of young people with life-threatening or terminal illnesses but this is the first I’ve read that really…

  • The Teenage Guide to Friends – Nicola Morgan

    Walker Books ISBN: 9781406369779 Imprint: Walker July 1, 2017 Australian RRP: $16.99 New Zealand RRP: $18.99 Nicola Morgan is a recognised expert on the teenage psyche and has already written successful and well received books. Now she turns her hand to dealing with the issue of friends and friendship. Her engaging and conversational style will certainly appeal to the…

  • Raymie Nightingale – Kate DiCamillo

    Walker Books ISBN: 9781406373189 Imprint: Walker May 1, 2017 Australian RRP: $14.99 New Zealand RRP: $16.99   I know that most folks will already know Raymie Nightingale but this paperback edition has been my ‘waiting for child pick up’ read for a few weeks so it did take me a while to get through in the short snatches. It…

  • Dotty Detective #1 Super Secret Agent – Clara Vulliamy

    Harper Collins Australia ISBN 9780008132491 ISBN 10: 0008132496 Imprint: HarperCollins – GB 01/06/2017 List Price: 4.99 AUD Girl detectives seem to be quite the popular trend of late and you will perhaps have some younger readers who want to get in on this but are not quite ready for some of the books on offer. This new series will…

  • Piggy – Trevor Lai

    Allen & Unwin ISBN: 9781681190655 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Imprint: BLM Children’s USA  January 2017 RRP $19.00   What’s not to love about a cute little pig who loves to read so much that he’s never made any friends?  Piggy has always been so immersed in his books and the library that it is almost a…

  • Glitch – Michelle Worthington/Andrew Spark

    Ford St Publishing July 2017 Author: Michelle Worthington Illustrator: Andrew Plant   ISBN 978192527271   RRP $16.99   Here is a really lovely picture book about friendship, self confidence, and persistence, upcycling, overcoming anxiety and being positive.   Glitch is a twitchy little bug who lives in the dump and just loves recycling junk into useful things…