Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • 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…