Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Between – Anna Walker

    Scribe Publications Imprint: Scribble September 2025 ISBN: 9781761381591AUD$27.99 (Hardback) Anna Walker has created a book that is a pure symphony of thoughts, that swirl around like gossamer on a breeze. I only wish I could give you some idea of how utterly beautiful and soothing it is. It is almost a meditation in print and…

  • Keeper of the Octopus – Neridah McMullin

    Walker Books Australia ISBN13:9781760659479 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 As I’ve said before, I have a fascination with octopuses with their superior intelligence and facility for extraordinary physical feats. And when you combine that with Neridah McMullin’s ability to weave a narrative of magical realism that has echoes of traditional folktales and lore, you get…

  • Family Secrets: The Girl and the Ghost #2 – Jacqueline Harvey.

    Penguin Australia October 2025 Officially, my blog break doesn’t finish until the weekend but how can I resist posting this one immediately, after gobbling it up over two nights! I was very excited to be back in France with Jet, Louis and Gabriel in another adventure. There is an exciting opening event as the Mona…

  • The Terrakeet – Jo Van Der Borgh. Illustrated by Jo Beasley.

    Walker Books Australia April 2025 ISBN13:9781760657673 Australia RRP:$25.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 In the shade of the gobi trees on the edge of Pincer Sea,live a family of Finlocks as peaceful as can be.They lomf and fish and fish and eat and hope that they will never meet …the Frimbulitic Terrakeet! From narrative-nonfiction to classics to humour…

  • Woof woof! Double the Dog Delight

    Today (as I write this) is International Dog Day and many of my friends with doggos are sharing their pals. I thought it would be a good opportunity to write these two reviews to go up after the last of the Birdie Num Num titles this week. So here we go! My Name is Jemima…

  • 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…

  • Happy Anniversary Tashi!! Tashi 30th Anniversary Edition – Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg, Kim Gamble

    Allen & Unwin July 2025 ISBN:9781761181450 Publisher: &U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children Thirty years and over 100 millions of sales on, Tashi is every bit as entertaining, clever, funny and brave as he ever was. I can still recall how enchanted I was on first meeting him, and knowing that the kiddos in…

  • Hannah Backwards – Kim Rackham

    I think this is very possibly the first verse novel for younger readers I’ve come across to review, and I think it will be very popular with many of them. Much of the action in this narrative is eminently relatable to many kiddos. The worries that beset them, the losses they meet with, making mistakes…

  • Music Camp – Penny Tangey

    UQP June 2025 9780702269028 A$16.99 If you’re looking for a character-driven middle grade novel to explore characterisation, and particularly, introduce the literary concepts of archetypes and tropes, this would be a good choice. You could very easily use this as a class serial read and then unpack these points and the accompanying themes with a…

  • Neeka and the Storm: Wilder Zoo #2 – Tina Strachan

    Harper Collins Australia July 2025 I have no doubts whatsoever that many of you will have kids who loved the #1 in this series, Neeka and the Missing Key. Of course, the whole animals aspect is a huge drawcard, but the plot with all its drama, humour and sense of adventure mixed together makes for…