Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Bring on the Empty Horses, so the old saying goes…….

    …though these are far from ’empty………..   As my village knows Miss Small has now been riding for about 18 months and is about to compete in her second show tomorrow (last show she got a first in her class of Beginner Rider!) so despite a lifetime in almost total ignorance of riding, except for…

  • The Snow Angel – Lauren St John

    Harper Collins Zephyr Books/Head of Zeus ISBN  9781786695895 October 2017 RRP $19.99   It’s a long way from the wide blue skies and shimmering heat haze of Kenya to the bleak snow covered moors of Inverness and for 12 year old Makena the journey is not just a geographical one. Much loved only child of…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Exchange of Heart – Darren Groth

    Penguin Random House 9780143781578 July 31, 2017 Random House Australia Children’s $19.99 If you were impressed with Groth’s 2014 novel Are You Seeing Me? you will be likewise taken with his new one and his ability to blend heartbreak and humour into one splendid story. Munro Maddux has taken a desperate step in his grief…

  • Letters to the Lost – Brigid Kemmerer

    Allen & Unwin ISBN:9781408883525 Publisher: Bloomsbury UK Imprint :Bloomsbury Child March 2017 RRP $16.99 Juliet’s mother died in a terrible hit-and-run accident. On her way home from yet another international photography mission documenting the heartbreak of war zones and disasters, she returned early at Juliet’s request and on her way from the airport was suddenly…

  • The Other Side of Summer – Emily Gale

    ISBN: 9780143780113 Published: 30/05/2016 Imprint: Random House Australia Children’s – RRP $16.99 Sometimes a book strikes such a personal chord with you that you are almost mesmerised by it from the first. My own family’s grief over the loss of my youngest daughter last year has wrought such changes in our dynamic that at times it feels hard…

  • Grandad’s Island – Benji Davies

    Simon & Schuster UK 32 pages | ISBN 9781471119958 July 2015 RRP AU$ 14.99 NZ$ 16.99 For many children, losing a grandparent is often their first experience with death and grief. The emotions of this may be openly expressed or may not be so visible to observers. Using a picture book to invite discussion on…

  • Holier than Thou – Laura Buzo

    Before I started this blog, I wrote this review of Laura Buzo’s second novel. I am reposting here as I’m about to review another of this terrific author’s books. Stay posted! Allen and Unwin, 2012. ISBN 9781741759983. Recommended for Year 11/12 students. Wonderfully funny, heartbreakingly poignant, undeniably bursting with life, Laura Buzo’s second novel Holier…