Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Dream Goal: Kicking It Football Academy – Jess Black/Mario Gushiken

    Scholastic Australia March 20 9781761527623 $14.99 Whether you’re a soccer aficionado or not, or indeed, a Matildas fan or not, there is not a doubt that the success of the team over the past couple of years has given a huge boost to girls in soccer. In fact, soccer in general seems to be on…

  • The Bogan Book Club – John Larkin

    Publisher: Larrikin House (December 4, 2024) ISBN13: 978192280489 RRP: $29.99 You know how sometimes you’ve waited patiently for something, and it turns out to be a massive disappointment… movie, a meal, a night out – whatever – and you’re left feeling completely ripped off? This is not one of those occasions. I had some slim…

  • Dylan Alcott: Game On! – Dylan Alcott/Fiona Regan. Illustrated by Nahum Ziersch.

    Harper Collins November 2024 ISBN: 9780733343209 ISBN 10: 0733343201 RRP: $16.99 What an absolute honour it was for me to be asked to write the teaching notes for this book – the first in a series – from sporting legend, disability advocate, radio host, actor, founder of his self-named foundation, film-maker, motivational speaker, Australian of the Year…

  • 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…

  • The Skin I’m In – Steph Tisdell

    Pan Macmillan July 2024 ISBN: 9781760984977 RRP: $26.99 It took me a while to get to this one on the review shelf, but when I did, it didn’t take me long to read it – I chomped it up over 3 nights and loved every vibrant word of it. Then of course it was Picture Book…

  • The Completely Chaotic Christmas of Lottie Brooks – Katie Kirby

    Penguin Books Australia ISBN: 9780241679166 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $16.99 Somehow or other, I have completely missed Lottie Brooks until now but I’m glad we have met. I found this quite hilarious and can easily see why this series has been so popular with tweens. It’s reminiscent of the likes of Wimpy Kid or Tom Weekly but more…

  • Junkyard Fairies:#1 Dig Deep – Edwina Wyatt. Illustrated by Lauren O’Hara

    Walker Books Australia October 2024 ISBN13:9781760657048 Australia RRP:$19.99 New Zealand RRP:$24.99 Even without the addition of the adorable little fairy house [thank you so much Walker Books!🍄] , I would have loved this delightful new take on fairies for a contemporary audience. It’s rather like a mash-up of Enid Blyton with Bottersnikes & Gumbles and…

  • Jack’s Island – Norman Jorgensen

    Fremantle Press January 2024 ISBN: 9781760992958 RRP: $17.99 Since its initial publication in 2008, Norman Jorgensen’s award-winning historical novel has proven not only an enduring popular choice for many class novel studies, but as a first-rate adventure constantly in circulation among readers from around Year 5 to Year 8. Based on stories from his own father,…

  • Doubles Disaster: Ash Barty Tennis Camp Diaries #1 – Ash Barty, Jasmin McGaughey. Illustrated by Jade Goodwin.

    Harper Collins Australia July 2024 ISBN: 9781460762745 ISBN 10: 1460762746 Imprint: HarperCollins AU RRP: $15.99 Your junior readers who have been gobbling up the Little Ash series are going to go nuts when they see this and realise that a whole new series, another step up the reading ladder, is happening! Ash is very excited that she’s been…

  • Grace the Amazing – Aleesah Darlison

    Wombat Books May 2024 ISBN: 9781761111174 RRP: $14.99 Eleven-year-old Grace is, in her imagination, Grace the Amazing – a skilled magican who dazzles with her wondrous feats of legerdemain. Certainly that’s how she visualises herself but in reality, it’s more like Grace the Impetuous… Grace the Truculent… Grace the No-Filter… Grace the Friendless. She is,…